falling
by nl4ever
Summary: Neville is in love with his new neighbor.  She's with someone else.  Rated M for later mature chapters.  I don't own any characters.  Thank you everyone for reading.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the third and final (for now!) Neville and Luna story. Thank you everyone for placing me on your alerts/favorites pages especially somefanof yours and hermioneGrangerisME ; you inspire imagination. Please note, this is a mature story. I do not own any characters**

Summer

Neville was mowing the front lawn. His mom had been asking for two days to get him to do it and he finally admitted that it was pretty long. He was going out tonight with a couple of friends so he needed to do it pretty quick. That's why even though it was hot and sticky, not a breath of air moving, Neville was outside.

He was concentrating on the lanes he was cutting and didn't notice a moving van pull up into the driveway of the house next door. When he finished, Neville turned off the mower and stretched. He pulled his tee shirt from under his shorts and wiped his face, completely damp from sweat. When he moved the shirt back down, there was a girl standing in front of him.

"Hello."

Neville was startled. Stunned actually. She was beautiful. Petite, with long blonde wavy hair, grey eyes, very pale skin. Her voice was soft and seemed to strike a nerve in him. She smiled and it was like the sun had risen and blinded him.

"I'm Luna." The girl said and held out her hand.

Neville took it gently. It was soft, smooth. He was afraid to move, afraid he might scratch her with his own rough and callused hand. He still hadn't said anything.

"And you are?"

"Sorry, sorry I'm Neville."

"Hello Neville, my dad and I just moved in next door. It's very hot today."

Neville nodded, chagrined when some of his sweat flicked out onto her. She looked fresh, not a wrinkle in her interesting outfit of pink tennis dress, blue scarf and green flats. She looked down and he noticed that he was still holding her hand.

"Sorry."

"No, don't be."

Neville stood awkwardly, mentally calling himself an idiot. Luna didn't say anything, just stood there next to him. The two of them watched as Luna's dad waved at them, calling out that he was going to go pick up the car now. They watched the neighbors across the street greeted him. They watched a couple of kids riding their bikes past them, waving. Luna raised her arm up to wave back. Neville just stood there and watched her. He wanted to say something but couldn't. There was something about her that made him completely lose all thoughts in his head. The front door opened behind them.

"Oh you must be Luna! Your dad asked if I could invite you in until he gets his car from the moving company. Come in, you met my son Neville? I'm Alice Longbottom."

"Hello Mrs. Longbottom. Thank you, yes I met Neville."

"Isn't that an interesting scarf! It's beautiful, come in out of the heat. Neville, close the door for heaven's sake."

Neville shuffled in after them, listening as Luna easily made conversation with his mother. She sat down at their kitchen table like she'd been there for years, chatting about the move, her family.

"So you're going to be attending the college in town. Neville graduated from there just this past month, he finished early. He's going on to do a master's in botany. "

Luna beamed at him. Neville reddened, strangely pleased at how Luna was reacting.

"That's wonderful. Are you going away?"

"Yes, not that far though. I'm thinking of studying landscape and urban planning afterwards, maybe teach."

Luna clapped her hands together. Neville pulled up a chair and started to explain why he wanted to study plants and design. Luna asked questions, clasping her hands from time to time, letting Neville talk about everything and before he knew it, his mother had served them soup for dinner, the evening news had come and gone, Luna's dad was at the door and she was leaving for the night.

"Bye Neville, I'll talk to you soon. Thank you, Mrs. Longbottom."

"She is such a lovely girl. Really, just lovely. And Neville, I've never heard you talk that much to anyone. Isn't she pretty?"

"She's all right."

Neville's mom just shook her head. Neville pushed the kitchen chair back in, leaving to go hang out with Ron and Harry. They were talking about leaving for a camping trip with Ron's family in a few days, getting in a last bit of R and R until college classes start. Neville has known them for years, they had all gone to school together. Ron hadn't changed, he was still dating his high school girlfriend, still the same Ron. Harry looked about the same too, quieter, intense. He had undergone a lot of family stress in the past and this had matured him quickly. Neville didn't tell them about Luna, preferring to keep her close to him. He returned after dark, his house quiet, his parents having long gone up to bed. He climbed up to his bedroom. It was small, tucked under the eaves. He wanted the one closest to the maple tree that grew outside his window, liking the idea of watching the leaves changing colors with the seasons, watching ice and snow form from time to time. He sometimes climbed out and lay on the roof, staring up through the branches up into the sky. He looked out of his window now and saw Luna perched on the window seat of her room, opposite him.

"Neville!"

"Hey Luna."

"I love it up here, it's so peaceful."

Neville climbed out, stretching out on the shingles. Luna tucked her knees under her chin, watching him. The moon threw shadows on her face, making her seem younger.

"Don't fall."

"I won't, I've been climbing out here for years."

Neville let his long legs dangle over the edge, propping himself up by his elbows.

Luna sighed. "It's so difficult coming to a new town."

Neville listened as she talked about her mom passing away a few years ago, her father promoted to editor of a section of a magazine, their subsequent move to this town to be closer to the city. Her interest in animals, how she had made the scarf his mom admired, her own mom having taught her before she died from illness. He could listen to her all night. Her voice was sweet, like a caress. Neville lay on the roof and closed his eyes, a gentle breeze blowing over him as he listened to her chatting.

"Neville, I'm boring you!"

"No you're not honey, I'm perfectly happy lying here listening to you." Neville kept his eyes closed for a moment, not realizing what he had said to Luna. He then opened them to see her beaming down at him.

Luna clasped her hands together again, still talking in her calming voice, sighing with happiness.

"I'm so glad you live next door, I was afraid it was going to be lonely for me. It often is, because we move from time to time. I don't want to worry my father about it though, he's got enough on his mind."

Neville understood loneliness. He understood about worrying parents as well. He was often on his own, things being difficult for his own parents. His father was the owner of a small chain of hardware stores but pressure from larger chains had placed him in a difficult financial situation. His mother was constantly worried about him, the state of their finances, and the overlying disapproval his grandmother seemed to constantly convey to them. So Neville kept to himself, studying, not giving his parents anything new to worry about regarding himself. He came up here every night, climbing out onto the roof even when it was raining sometimes, or snowing to escape. Now here was this beautiful girl, looking like she could have any man in the world, admitting to him that she was lonely at times.

"There are plenty of people around here that you'll meet. A lot of them around here go to the local college. I could, I could introduce you. I mean, I'm leaving in a couple of weeks but until then, we could, uh, kind of hang out and do stuff." I sound like a kid, Neville thought to himself. But Luna responded like he had given her a gift of a pony, wrapped in a million dollars.

"That would be very nice Neville. Tomorrow, we can start tomorrow."

"Sure."

Luna sighed and leaned into her window frame. The wind rustled through the trees and moved her hair a little. Neville watched as she lifted up her masses of curls and pinned them up, exposing her very delicate neck. He could see the outline of her body through her nightgown. Could see the curve of her breasts, her tapered waist. He shivered a little, not realizing that at that moment, Luna had captured his heart.

"Neville?"

"Yes."

"I'm so glad that you're here."

Neville never heard anyone talk about him like this before. Usually, it was he's so nice, that Neville. He's so smart. A little geeky but nice. He's going to graduate early. He's not really into sports. He's more into research and plants. No, I'm not interested in going out, but let's be friends Neville.

Neville looked at the girl who had just moved in. Her eyes were closed and there was a faint smile on her lips. He could smell honey and vanilla, which he was sure was coming from her. This moment was the best of his life.

"Me too Luna. I'm glad that you're here too."


	2. stormy

**Thank you for the alerts. I hope you are enjoying this story as it is one of my favorites. It has very adult themes. I don't own any characters**

stormy

It had been about four weeks since Luna had moved in next door. Neville saw her pretty much every day, she was usually busy cleaning the yard, moving furniture, painting. He tried to help her when he could and when they were done for the day, they would go into town, talking about themselves. Luna was interested in the sights and gossip around town and seemed happy to be around him. Neville came out of his shell when she was around, listening to her talk to other people, children, flowers, anything and everything.

They talked a lot. Neville's concerns about his father and mother. The fact that his grandmother had a lot of influence over the family that his mother didn't like but had to tolerate. Luna spoke about the fact that her father left her alone a lot of the time, that he was busy editing the magazine, about the two of them being only children. He loved to listen to her, to look at her as she was talking in her dreamy voice. He loved how her hair was loose, wavy around her shoulders and that her skin was pale, perfect. Her lips so full, so inviting, red. Like she had bitten them swollen, making him extremely turned on. He especially loved how her breasts looked in that cute sweater of hers, how he could see her curves, envisioning her pressed up against him, touching him. He took that thought home with him every night, before he went to sleep, his hand on himself, pulling, tugging, dreaming of Luna's mouth on him, her breasts heavy in his hands and he had to muffle himself in the pillows as he came.

The month was starting out pretty mild but a few storms had kicked up a couple of nights ago. There was going to be a pretty massive one tonight as well. Neville's parents were visiting his grandmother, staying at her house across town for the night. Luna's father was in the city, coming back later, catching up with work. Luna said that she wanted to sleep early because the two of them were going to be painting her kitchen the next day and she wanted to get an early start. So Neville was upstairs, dozing on his bed, when the storm started. It was very hot, the air was still. But when the rain started, the wind picked up. Major rain, Neville thought; it was coming down with crashes of lightening, the rumbling of thunder pretty close. Then, he heard it. A large noise and a huge tree on the other side of Luna's house came down, hitting a utility pole. The lights went out just as a bolt of lightning hit the ground.

"Neville!"

He sensed her calling to him before he actually heard her. Neville jumped out of bed, looking out his window over to her room. There weren't any lights, he couldn't see anything. He pulled on his sneakers and bolted down the stairs, almost taking a header at the final turn. But he wanted to see Luna, make sure she was all right. He ran across the lawn and up her porch, banging on her door, calling her name.

It seemed like a long time had passed although it was probably only a few minutes until Luna opened the door. She was shaking, holding herself with her arms.

"You okay?"

"I'm, I'm not sure Neville…"

He pushed into the door past her and closed it, just as another flash of light came through the windows and the rain really started to come down. He saw Luna for a second, scared, dressed in a short night gown, clutching a sheet. He took her forearm and started to guide her to the sofa.

"Ow."

"Sorry baby, sorry." Neville said as he moved her past the table and settled her down next to him.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, I just bumped something with my arm. I couldn't find the flashlights, everything is still such a mess here."

Neville could feel her shaking next to him, and he stroked her arm a little bit, trying to calm her down. He hadn't realized before how soft her skin was, and he wished that he could see it, make sure she wasn't bruised.

"Do you want me to go grab our flashlights? I'll be right back."

"No, don't leave Neville."

"I won't."

He guided her down beside him and leaned back into the sofa, pulling the sheet across her even though it was hot and stuffy in the room. He was sweating already, the air very still even though the air conditioning had only been off for minutes. Suddenly Neville was aware that he was wet and not wearing a shirt or pants. He had bounded out of bed fast and only had on his boxers. He kicked off his shoes and tried to edge away from Luna, not sure if he wanted her to feel him without basically any clothing on. He was losing weight from working so much on his house and hers but still felt like that slightly overweight teenager he was just a few years ago.

But Luna didn't care, she placed her head on his chest, her hand flat against him and felt his heart beat. She moved her head a little, her hair floating across him, drifting down to his legs and Neville had to suppress a groan of desire.

"I hate storms."

"It's just water and light, it will pass soon."

"I know…"

Neville waited. If Luna was upset by something, it was for a good reason he'd come to realize.

"My mother, she died in a car accident during a thunderstorm. She was driving, lost control of the car." Luna's voice dropped to a whisper, he could barely hear her.

"Oh Luna…"

"I know it was a long time ago, but every time there's a storm, I get upset. I can't handle it, I keep thinking about my mom. I feel like sometimes her voice is in my head, that she's telling me things but I can't quite catch them and I'm afraid of missing something important. It's silly, like my head is filled with incoherent thoughts from time to time. "

Neville didn't know what to say. He knew that it was difficult for her to say those words. He wished he could tell her it was all right but he was nervous talking about her feelings, his own. He patted her back awkwardly, and without thinking he kissed her head. Luna stiffened a little, and Neville mentally kicked himself for doing something so stupid. But she didn't say anything, so he just sat there, stroking her back, trailing his fingers on her spine, rubbing her neck. She touched his chest again, feeing a small series of scars with her sensitive fingers.

"What's this Neville?"

"A souvenir."

"From what?"

"My father."

Luna didn't say anything, she just outlined it with her finger tips lightly.

"He threw something at me, I didn't catch it in time."

Not quite true. Neville's father had a fit of rage at something, came at him with a broken glass when he was much younger. He didn't bring that up, knowing that it wasn't something he could easily explain.

He closed his eyes and could smell her skin. Vanilla, something sweet. She was curled up, still moving her hand gently across his scars, the lightning flashes making her jerk a little in fear. He felt the sheet drop down between his legs and Luna went between them to get it. All of the sudden, he had a vision of Luna, down on her knees, with her hand down his boxers, holding him. He opened his eyes, suddenly unsure if she was doing just that. He leaned forward, unable to see anything. It was pitch black.

"Are you afraid of anything Neville?"

Her mouth whispered the words close to him, almost touching his lips. It was like they were breathing the same air, holding there for an infinite amount of time. He wanted to say yes, that he was afraid of his father from time to time, out of control, angry at the situation his business was in, afraid for his parent's financial future, his own future. But mostly, he was afraid of his own desire, of opening up emotionally to another person, beyond the physical attraction. He was afraid he was maybe falling for Luna.

Neville wanted to pull her into his arms, wanted to feel her, open up her nightgown and cup her breasts, the breasts he had imagined many times since that first night when he caught sight of her in the window. Wanted to pull her into his lap, wanted her to get on top so he could fuck her. Neville shook his head, almost hitting Luna, trying to get that idea out of his mind. He didn't even know her and she couldn't be interested in him. They were just neighbors, just friends of sorts.

The power went on suddenly, flooding the room with light. Neville found himself staring at Luna between his legs, her hand on his thigh, head tilted back to look up at him. Her hair was disheveled, sexy. He caught sight of her eyes, dreamy, the pale skin of her cheeks then slid his gaze downwards. He could see her breasts through the thinness of her gown, a little moisture beading down her cleavage. Neville didn't know how he looked to Luna, just that he felt slightly flushed, uncomfortable. He was unaware that his height overwhelmed her, as did his dark, good looks, his crooked smile, the fact that his hard on was poking through the side of his boxers.

One more second. One more second

The front door opened.

"What the…"


	3. august

**Thank you for reading this story. It contains mature themes. I don't own any characters**

autumn

The night of the storm, Neville had come close, very close to pulling Luna into his arms, unburdening himself to her. The look on her face, vulnerable, completely open, made him want to protect her. But he'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he was fearful of his own emotions, afraid to move forward with Luna. So when her father had come in to see the two of them on his sofa, Luna between Neville's legs, the sheet from her bed on the floor around her feet, Neville with his legs open, flushed and sweaty without any clothes on but his boxers, a very small part of Neville was glad. Of course, the look on Mr. Lovegood's face didn't make Neville feel any better about himself.

Luna had explained that the power had gone out during the storm and that she had called out for Neville. Her father seemed a little doubtful but didn't kick up a big fuss, probably because of what Luna was telling him before about her mother's death. But Neville was uncomfortable nevertheless, not waiting for an invitation to leave the house. He had returned to his room, shutting his curtains so he had privacy. He wanted to think about what had just happened. He went to the bathroom, staring at himself, feeling the scar on his chest that Luna had touched. She didn't notice the other ones, several on his abdomen, two on his back. Neville had gone to bed, thinking about her. About the way she looked, the way she sounded. He dreamt of Luna lying next to him, talking about his fears, how he didn't want her to view him differently if she knew just how messed up his family was, how difficult it was for him to talk to her. How much he wanted her.

He felt closer to Luna then anyone ever in his life, after that one night. They saw each other the next day, like nothing had happened. But sometimes Neville would catch a look from her, a glance like they had a secret together. It made him feel special to Luna.

But the night before he left, a couple of things changed.

Neville hadn't seen Luna for almost a week. He was busy taking care of last minute things before leaving, making sure his mom was okay with what she needed. He was returning from the store when he saw Luna from a distance. She was seated at a table at a coffee shop, hunched over a magazine. He would recognize her hair anywhere, especially the way she turned her head and tossed some of it over her shoulder. Neville went over to greet her, happy that he ran into her. But she was with someone else.

"Hey Neville!"

"Hi Ginny. How's your summer going?"

"Pretty good. I just got back from visiting family out west.

"Hello Neville."

Luna smiled at him, her soft dreamy smile. Neville felt his heart skip a beat. He suppressed an urge to pull her up into his arms, kiss her soft mouth. Ginny's phone rang and she excused herself to take the call.

"Hello Luna."

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Neville leaned into the table, almost knocking over the coffee cup that sat there. Luna quickly uprighted it, her arm brushing against his stomach. Neville flinched a little bit, feeling like an idiot. He quickly moved away from her, standing to the side. Luna turned in her seat, her smile faltering. Ginny came back to the table, noticing that Neville was slightly red, Luna with a strange expression on her face.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Sure, Ginny, sure. So, how did you two meet?"

"I ran into Luna when I was at the store, she came up to me and introduced herself. You never said anything about her moving in next to you Neville."

He didn't because he wanted to keep her to himself. At least for a little while. He shifted his weight, avoiding Ginny's knowing look.

"That was Hermione on the phone, she and Ron want to get together later on tonight. Are you available Neville?"

He wished that he was, that he wasn't leaving early the next day. He turned to Luna, going to ask her automatically if she wanted to go out tonight. But Luna had turned her gaze to someone behind him.

"Hello Harry."

Neville felt a little jump in his heart, watching Harry smile at Luna, coming up to stand next to her. Luna beamed at him, her hair blowing about in the wind. A tendril touched Harry and he reached down and pushed it back behind her ear. Neville wanted to yank Luna away from him, but didn't. Instead, he watched Luna hold her hand out to Harry, like she did the first time she met Neville. Only it was clear to him that this wasn't the first time they had met.

Harry didn't hesitate to take it; in fact, he didn't let go for a few moments. There wasn't any awkwardness in him, or any discomfort. He was just his own super confident self, sure that Luna was going to want to talk to him, be around him. He just smiled at her and for a second, Neville had the urge to punch him in the face.

"Hey Neville, I hear that Luna moved in next door to you."

"Yes, a couple of months ago."

"You've been keeping her to yourself. Neville showing you around?" This last part directed at Luna.

"Yes, he has been giving up his time to keep me company."

"I could take you around, I'm starting classes again here in the fall."

"Oh, that's nice. I am too. I'm in my final year. Neville and I were talking about places in the city we could go."

"Neville doesn't know all the hot spots, do you Nev?"

Neville didn't answer, knowing that Harry didn't expect him to.

"Harry, Neville knows everything in the city, just like you and Ron." Ginny answered.

"Yeah, but Nev is too busy with his plants and research to scout out bars and parties. I'm sure Neville is doing a good job, but why don't you let me take you out to lunch today? I'm sure he needs to pack up his stuff anyway, he's leaving tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, he's driving up in the morning. Didn't he tell you?"

Neville didn't hear Luna's answer. He didn't want to know, knew he would be hurt if Luna didn't care that he was leaving. He went right up to them, interrupting Luna's answer.

"Luna, you're okay here? I mean with Harry and everyone. I've got to get back home, check on my mom. I have some packing to do before I leave."

"Oh sure, Neville, thank you. I'll see you later tonight okay?"

"Sure, sure." And Neville left, spun right around and didn't look back. She'll be okay, she just met the guy everyone loves in town. She won't need me to run her around anymore.

Neville walked away, hearing them laugh as he left, flinching a little. He wasn't sure but he thought he heard Luna's high-pitched voice saying something and making them laugh again.

Well, so what if Luna didn't need him anymore. That's fine, he was just walking her around town, keeping her company like Harry said, just making sure she met people like he promised he would that first time they talked. It didn't matter to him, Neville whispered to himself, clenching his fist in his pocket. It didn't matter that she probably fits in very well with them all. Didn't matter that she wasn't coming back home with him today. He was leaving tomorrow so what difference did it make. It wasn't like they were dating or anything. He was only useful helping around her house, making sure she was okay during one rainstorm.

Neville went back home, in a foul mood, wandering out to the back porch, seeing his mom sitting there, staring off into the distance.

"Oh Neville, we are going over for dinner tonight at the Lovegood's house, since it's your last night here. I thought it would be nice, especially since Mr. Lovegood mentioned that you were very kind to Luna during that major rainstorm. "

"Great, great. Nothing like having a conversation with him after…"

"After what?"

"Nothing, nothing. They'll have to set another setting for Harry."

"For Harry?"

"Yeah, he and Luna have met and I'm sure they have hit it off." Neville said bitterly.

"Harry? I thought he was going out with someone else, that girl Hermione."

"She's dating Ron. All I know is, I ran into him today with Luna and they were planning to go out, before they head to college together."

Neville's mother looked at her son. She knew when he was thinking of something, not happily she might add. But she didn't say anything.

"Your dad was asking for you today."

"Yes? That's good, maybe he'll be able to come with us tonight."

Neville saw someone next door. His heart leapt, thinking it was Luna, disappointed when he saw Luna's father there alone.

"Hi Mr. Lovegood. Uh, is Luna home yet?"

"Not yet, she's going to be pretty soon though. She knows about the three of you coming over in an hour or so. I want to thank you again for helping out Luna. She talks about you all the time, where you go for the day, what you did. Did she ever mention her mother?"

"Yes. She did, she was pretty calm. It wasn't a big deal."

"It was. She usually doesn't talk about her, about what happened. Not to strangers anyway. But you and she really have hit it off. I'm glad that she has such a good friend in you."

Friend. Right. Neville, every girl's friend.

Neville half listened as Luna's dad talked with his mother. Mostly about the yard, work, the small talk that happens between neighbors. He went back into the house, thinking that he should probably shower, change his clothes. But instead, he went out his window onto the roof.

He lay there for a little while, his arms crossed underneath his head. Staring at the sky, a few stars starting to come out. He thought about Luna, about her meeting Harry. He was a little worried too, because Luna was about to meet his father. He hoped that everything would go smoothly. He looked over to her window without thinking and there she was. The light from her bedroom illuminated her for a moment. His breath caught. She looked beautiful he thought, her hair blowing a little bit in the wind, leaning against the window frame and smiling at him.

"Hello Neville."

"Hello Luna. Did you have fun today? Where's Harry?" Neville tried to keep his tone light but didn't succeed.

She looked at him with a funny look on her face.

"I think he's at home Neville. I left him not long after you left."

Neville didn't answer, he was a little relieved. A little guilty too, since there was no reason for him to be so happy that Harry wasn't around. But when Luna settled on the window seat to talk with him, he sighed with happiness.

"I'm so glad you're coming over tonight, it's a little quiet with just dad and myself eating."

"Well, you might not think so. Especially with my father…" He couldn't finish.

Luna didn't answer him, just looked out the window at the tree.

"This tree is lovely, I wish it were flowering right now."

"That won't happen until about June, you had just missed it when you moved in."

Luna reached out with her hand, touched a leaf. Neville watched her, longing to reach out and take her hand in his.

Neville took a deep breath. "I better go in, get ready."

"Yes, I should as well. I need to wash my hair."

Neville got a funny look on his face. He thought about Luna in the shower, naked, her hands above her head, washing her hair. The idea of him joining her, Luna smiling up at him, taking hold of his hardness, him soaping her front, between her legs, rivulets of water cascading...

"Neville?" He shook himself out of his daze.

"Uh, should I bring something?"

"Oh that's so nice. I don't think so, we have everything. I'll see you in a little while." She smiled at him one last time.

Neville stayed on that roof for a while longer, just thinking about her. He really was looking forward to the dinner tonight after all.

.


	4. dinner

**Thank you for all the interest in this Neville and Luna pairing. There are mature themes involved. I don't own any characters**

Dinner

The evening started out well. Neville and his parents had gone over to the house next door and were greeted by Luna at the front door. She looked radiant, her hair in soft curls tumbling over her shoulders, and she was dressed in a cotton dress of emerald green, a purple sweater over it and boots. Neville wanted to smile, every time he saw her she was dressed in colors that looked like they might clash yet seemed to fit her very well.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom. Dad says to come in and head out to the back. I set the table out on the patio."

They went through, his mom greeting her, his dad quiet. Neville wanted to shake his father, wake him up. He looked at Luna who tilted her head to look at him, a small smile on her face. She reached out and tucked her hand into his arm and Neville shuddered with a little wave of pleasure as they followed.

Mr. Lovegood had set up a nice meal and was interested in serving different wines with dinner. He gave a glass to Neville and proposed a toast.

"To very good neighbors. I'm glad Neville that you took care of my daughter that night of the storm. And Luna tells me that you've been showing her around town, introducing her to people.

"No quite Mr. Lovegood. Luna is so popular, she met everyone on her own."

"Well, I'm sure she felt much more comfortable being with you."

Neville's mother beamed. His father had nothing to say, only asking if he could have a harder drink. Mr. Lovegood set out glasses, pouring some scotch out for himself, Neville's dad and Neville, giving him a questioning look. Neville nodded. It was going to be a difficult night he could tell already.

But it started out really nicely, with Luna's dad talking about the magazine he edited in the city, making Neville's mom laugh when he told stories about different people on their travels. Luna sometimes interjecting, correcting him about something but always with a smile. Mr. Lovegood brought out a camera, showing them a few pictures of Luna on a trip with him and took a picture of Neville and Luna, saying he would send a copy out to them soon.

Then as the dinner was coming to a close, Mr. Lovegood started talking about how difficult it was for him to let go of Luna, to realize that she was growing up.

"Dad, I'm not a child, I'm 23."

"I know, but I'm concerned that you haven't figured out what you want exactly in life."

"Just to be happy. Isn't that what everyone wants?"

"I'm worried that Luna is a little indecisive, not sure of what she wants." Mr. Lovegood said, directing his words to Neville's parents. "Just look at the different courses she's been taking at the college, literature, biology, psychology. It took her forever to find a major in English not that she plans on doing anything with it. I'm glad that she was able to concentrate enough to pass her driver's test at least. " Mr. Lovegood sounded exasperated, but his face belied his affection for his daughter.

"Dad." Luna said, beaming at him.

"Well it's true. You should have more focus at this stage in life."

"Luna is just trying to figure out what she wants to do in life. She's young, both of our children are still young." Mrs. Longbottom said indulgently.

"Well Alice, I wish that she were more like your son here. Mature. Knows what he wants to do and goes and does it."

Neville was listening to the conversation, looking at Luna and didn't notice his father push his chair from the table, until he heard his voice, a little slurred, a little bitterness coming through his words.

"Mature. Right, well mature would be if he helped to take care of his family."

Neville tensed up, knowing what was coming next. He wanted to shake his father, wanted to pull Luna out of the room. He didn't want her to see what was happening, didn't want her to see what his family was like. He unconsciously started to rub the scars on his chest, not noticing Luna watching him.

"Mature would be if he didn't go to college to study some crazy thing like plants and actually worked and helped his father rebuild what he had started with his grandfather. Took over the family business so that there would be less pressure on me."

No one said anything. Everyone was staring at him, waiting.

"But then, you don't know the meaning of hard work do you? Of building something from nothing and then losing it, losing control, losing everything. Right Neville? You don't know about losing anything."

"Dad."

"Don't talk to me Neville, you're leaving again, going back to that damn college. You're a fool, coward…"

He threw his napkin down, started to get up, reach across for Neville. Neville braced himself, waiting for his anger to get the best of him. Luna flinched a little, not wanting to see Neville get hurt as his mother spoke up.

"Frank, now is not the time to be like this. We are enjoying dinner with Xeno and Luna, in their house. And Neville is leaving tomorrow, he's doing well."

His mother was pleading with him and Mr. Lovegood was trying to diffuse the situation by opening a new bottle of brandy, hoping that if he drank enough, Mr. Longbottom would pass out or fall asleep.

"Here Frank, try this, it's very good. I received it from a client…Everyone, have a little bit."

He poured some for all of them, anxiously watching Neville's dad, who nodded his head a little. Neville exhaled, not aware he was holding his breath and accepted a glass from Mr. Lovegood, avoiding his eyes, just taking the glass and holding it with a shaking hand to his lips.

Neville took a few deep breaths. His father settled himself back down, still glaring at him, at his mother, at the plate in front of him. But calm now, not going to start anything.

Neville took a few sips of his drink, feeling the glass clatter against his teeth. He wanted another one badly, but one of the reasons he didn't drink that much was he didn't want to lose control, like his father said, lose anything, become his father. Didn't want to let loose any of his emotions.

He felt movement on his thigh. He looked down and saw Luna's hand there, pressing gently, telling him she understood. He reached down and took her hand, squeezing gently. Trying not to lose his temper. Trying to not show his fear of his father. Luna let him, wishing she could say something.

The dinner ended not long afterwards, with his parents going back home and Mr. Lovegood saying he had to run back out to the city to take care of last minute details of the magazine. Luna and Neville cleared the table going into the kitchen to take care of the dishes. Luna was washing and passing them to Neville who dried them while thinking of a way to talk about what had happened.

"I don't mind washing dishes, do you Neville?"

"No, it's nice to see a task finished you know?"

Luna smiled, handing him a glass. Neville dried and laid it gently on the counter, than stopped what he was doing, letting go of the towel. He braced his arms against the table and faced her.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Luna."

"It's all right Neville."

"No, it's not. I'm not sure I can explain."

"You don't have to, I can tell that it's not something that your father can control. He has thoughts in his head too, like me. "

Luna moved from the sink to stand next to him and rested her head against his arm, still talking. Neville didn't want the evening to end, didn't want to leave Luna. Being near her made him feel better, for she calmed him down.

"So I guess I'll see you in a month or two. I come back to visit my mom every once in a while." He said, avoiding her eyes, picking up the glassware, stacking up the plates.

"That's nice Neville. I'm sure she appreciates it." Luna went back to the sink, continued to wash the final pans.

"You won't be lonely. Harry is a good guy, he will make sure that you're busy, you know." Neville wasn't sure why he brought up Harry's name just then.

Luna looked at him, then down at her hands in the sink. "If that's what you want."

"Sure, right. I mean, you liked him right? He's a great guy." Neville didn't look at her while he was saying these words. He didn't want her with someone else, didn't want her with Harry. But he couldn't be with her. He was leaving. And look at what she had witnessed tonight. His family was a mess. He was a coward, afraid.

"He seems very nice." Luna finished up, wiping her hands on the towel Neville had left, brushing them off like she'd come to a big decision.

"Well, goodbye then Neville. Thank you for keeping me company this summer, I know that it took up a lot of your time." She held out her hand to him, business-like. Like two friends.

He took the hand she offered, marveling at how soft it was, how smooth. He unthinkingly ran a thumb down her palm, gently tracing her lifeline. Luna took a quick breath.

Neville pulled her to him, holding her awkwardly for a moment. He wanted her to remember him, think of him from time to time. He didn't want her to be with Harry or anyone else for that matter. But she couldn't be with him. He was unable to open up to her, afraid of showing too much. But he couldn't help but want her, she smelled like roses, her hair very soft, silky. He placed a hand on her neck and dropped a kiss onto her temple, like a relative would kiss someone.

Luna pulled back, searching his face. Neville took her chin for a second, then let go.

She leaned upward, placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth, gently and Neville bent his head down moving his lips over hers. It took every ounce of strength in him not to grab Luna and spread her on the table, rip off her clothes and touch every inch of her. He wanted to fuck her, wanted to open her legs, wanted to put his hands on her, inside her. He wanted to see her coming, himself deep inside, screaming out his name loud enough for everyone to hear. He could actually picture this in his mind, as he felt her lips move under his.

His mouth continued to explore hers, neither of them moving, neither of them wanting it to end. It was chaste, just their lips touching. But it was the most intimate moment of Neville's life, this kiss.

Finally Neville pulled away, breathing heavily. Luna stood there, flushed. He wanted nothing more than to pull her upstairs, to her room, lie down next to her, wake up every day next to her.

He turned around and walked out the back door.


	5. november

**thank you for the reviews and alerts. I don't own any characters**

November

Neville was driving home. It was the week of Thanksgiving, the air brisk today. He had spent the better part of the previous months concentrating on his studies, meeting his research deadlines and trying not to think about Luna. Trying not to think about the kiss they had the last time they met. When he had left her that night, he went right upstairs, threw his stuff into boxes and brought them down to the car. He quickly wrote a note for his mom, saying that he was leaving that night to get an early start. He didn't want to be around to see Luna date Harry.

Later he found out that they started going out the day Neville left. He got the news from his mother, who had written to him about his father being ill. Stress related, he had gone to the clinic for therapy and they were struggling a little with the bills. Neville offered to come home, quit his studies and find a job, but his grandmother insisted on him staying in college. His mother, for once, agreed with her. Neville was to continue where he was. Secretly, he was glad. He had a hard time reconciling his emotions where his father was concerned.

He also heard from one other person.

"Neville I didn't get a chance to see you before you left!"

"Sorry Ginny, things got a little hectic here. I figured I had to head out."

"You heard that Harry and Luna started dating?"

Neville clenched his fist and held it against his stomach. Every time he thought of it, his insides hurt. But he was the one who had suggested it, he was the one that said how great a guy Harry was, how Luna would like being with him.

"Yes, my mom told me. Sounds like a good couple."

"Well, we'll see."

So he had not gone home, keeping busy. He was tutoring on the side and had met a few people, a few women. He liked them all well enough, went out with a few of them. But mostly, he tried to stop thinking about Luna. She wasn't single anymore so it didn't matter what he thought.

Neville turned the car into the driveway, unable to avoid looking for Luna. He didn't see her though and was disappointed. He always thought that when he returned home, she would be there to greet him. Even though he realized that was a kind of silly, he wished it were true.

"Hi mom."

"Hi Neville, I'm glad you're here for a little while."

Neville watched her, fluttering around the kitchen a little, surrounded by pans and pots, food already prepared on the table, counter. She seemed unsure of herself. Unsure around Neville.

"Mom. I'm okay. I'll take care of things here. Go upstairs, take a nap."

"Your father…"

"Let's talk about it later okay?"

She went upstairs and Neville finished up cleaning the kitchen, putting things away. He wanted to do as much as possible around the house while he was at home, not wanting to add any burden to her. He knew his grandmother was coming over to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, and didn't want to give her any reason to criticize his mom.

Tired after the drive and the work he had just completed, he sat down in the living room in front of the television, watching the news. All of the sudden, there was a knock on the front door.

Neville got up to get it, hoping it might be Luna. But he did not expect the visitor standing there.

"Hey Neville! I ran into your mom this morning, she said you were coming in today."

"Hey Harry, how's it going?"

"Not bad, studying, you know how it is."

Neville smiled, letting Harry enter. They had been pretty close all through school, up until the point where Neville was leaving. He hadn't talked to him recently though, especially with Harry and Luna dating. He didn't want to go into any of that.

"So, you here for the holiday?"

"Yes, I'm not returning until Sunday."

"Hey, that's great."

"How are things with you?" Neville didn't want to bring up Luna but Harry did, not sensing that Neville was uncomfortable with the subject.

"Great, Luna and I are really getting kind of close you know? But I'm telling you, guys keep following her around."

"What guys?"

"At the college. It's not like she encourages any of them, she's loyal to me. But they ask her out, try to see her, call her. Especially this one guy who taught her some biology class."

"Really."

"Yeah, Rolf something or other. Jerk."

Neville didn't say anything. He never thought that anyone else would be interested in Luna. But that was stupid of him wasn't it? She was beautiful, her voice was soft and every time she looked at him…

"Nevlle?"

He focused on Harry, catching his last words.

"…a bunch of us are heading into the city tonight, you know clubs. You should really come out, people would like to see you again, I know that Ginny was just talking about you the other day."

Neville didn't really think it was a good idea. Not because he didn't want to see everyone, that would be nice. But he didn't want to see Luna with Harry.

"Uh, I'm not sure Harry, I mean, I've got to spend some time taking care of stuff here, my grandmother's coming over tomorrow…"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun. Everyone's back in town for the Thanksgiving holiday. You can hang with Luna and myself, Ron and Hermione, you could witness one of their numerous fights, that would be entertainment, let's see Dean will be there with Ginny…"

Neville listened to Harry talk about who would be there, the fact that it had been a while since friends had hung out, everyone was so busy with studies. He started to think it wasn't really a bad idea. It would be kind of nice to visit, not mope around his house waiting for Luna to show up. And didn't he say to himself that he was trying to forget about Luna? He had been seeing other women, so it wouldn't be such a big deal…

So there he was that night, with a big group of people, drinking, shouting over the music. He hadn't seen some of them in years. There was Seamus, he was in town visiting Ron. Dean was there too, Hermione with Ron. He always liked Hermione. She was smart, had her head on straight. They talked a little while about their families, their plans for the rest of the holiday season. But every time he talked to someone, his mind was only half on them. The other half was searching out Luna, looking for her.

The club music was constant, the girls moving up and down like a tribe, the lights going on and off. Neville watched them, zeroing on one person. The one who was moving to the beat, in a trance. Neville was frozen, struck.

Luna was absolutely vibrant, wearing a yellow draped top, electric blue leggings and mile high heels. The lights made it seem like it was stop and go action and each time the strobe light hit her, it looked like a separate photograph of her flashed in front of him, imprinting on his brain. Her hair was tousled, her smile blinding.

Neville couldn't stop staring at her, not realizing his emotions were clear on his face for everyone to see, that his obvious attention to her was noticed by several people, Ginny included. She wasn't sure if Luna knew how Neville felt for her, if Luna's moves in front of him were deliberate. Ginny thought that Luna liked Neville, she certainly talked about him all the time although she made it seem like they were just friends. But if the way Neville was staring at Luna tonight was any indication, half the club knew that he was in love with her. Everyone knew except for Harry, Luna and Neville.

Neville wasn't really thinking about anything, just watching Luna until he noticed Harry coming up to him.

"Neville, do me a favor." Harry was yelling in his ear.

"Sure Harry."

"Keep an eye on Luna will you? That guy Rolf I was telling you about? He's here, I have to get rid of him."

Neville looked at Harry. He was serious.

"He's here?"

Neville looked over at the bar crowd. Scanned the crowd and saw quite a few men looking over at Luna. Harry gestured with his head. Saw a tall good looking blonde haired man staring at Luna, and he felt his hands clench into fists. He wanted to go over to him, knock him out, break his pretty face.

"Just hang out with her while I take care of this."

Neville watched as Harry walked over to Rolf, talking urgently. The two of them moved away from his line of sight and Neville watched for Luna instead. She wasn't aware of what was going on, was still with Ginny and Hermione, swaying a little bit. But she sensed his stare because she turned around and looked straight at him. The light played over her and she moved away from her friends and walked over. Neville felt his stomach jump a little.

The next song started, Luna took Neville's hand and led him out to the floor amongst the crowd. Neville stood there awkwardly, unsure of himself. Luna didn't say anything, she just looked up at him solemnly, then placed her head on his chest, almost causing him to faint with pleasure.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, placing his hand on her lower back, the other on her hip. She placed one hand on his arm, the other one tucked on his chest. He didn't care what it looked like, all Neville cared about was the fact that Luna was pressed up against him and he could rest his chin on the top of her blond wavy hair, inhaling her scent, feeling her soft body up against his. The music started, fast, the rest of the crowd dancing around them, too loud to talk. Neville holding onto Luna, like an island in the middle of a storm.

He closed his eyes for a moment, wishing that he and Luna were together. He felt her hand press up against him and suppressed the urge to take it in his and kiss the palm. He would kiss it softly, several times, than kiss her neck, right where it curved into her shoulders, running his tongue over it. Then he would kiss her jaw, her chin and move up to her mouth. Her gorgeous mouth.

Neville had his eyes closed and didn't realize that Luna was watching him. Thinking about how he looked very tense. She knew a lot about what was going on in his household, although Neville didn't know it. His mom had confided in her about his father's behavior that night at dinner at her house, saying how Neville almost dropped out of college to come home and take a job. She knew that Neville wanted to keep his family life private and she respected that. But she wished that he would talk to her as they did when they first met, when he would tell her what he was feeling. She thought he was wonderful, but she wanted to know what exactly he was afraid of where she was concerned for it was becoming clear that he didn't think the same way about her. Every time she thought they were getting close, he stopped, pushed her away, keeping her at arms length.

Luna closed her eyes and inhaled his scent, a mix of wool, soap and what she defined as Neville. Something that triggered a jolt of need and an unhappy feeling inside her because he didn't seem to want her. He seemed to be holding himself back, as if he really didn't want to be here with her.

Neville stood there with Luna for a second longer. Luna trailed her hand down to his waist and he grabbed it, muttering under his breath, his jaw clenched. "Don't fucking do that Luna." She looked hurt and for a moment, Neville wished he could pick her up, carry her to the bathroom and lock her in a stall, making love to her right there, replacing her hurt look with one of desire, with himself hard and deep inside of her.

Something passed between the two of them. Neville thought for a moment she was going to kiss him, she moved so close. He could feel his pulse quicken a little. Neville almost said something but Harry came up right then, saying that he had taken care of everything and taking Luna by the hand, leading her away from him. Ginny shouted something to Neville as he stood alone, feeling that he had missed something very important. But not sure exactly what.


	6. thanksgiving

**thank you for the encouraging reviews and story alerts. This is an adult story. I still don't own any characters**

Thanksgiving

The next evening was Thanksgiving and Neville was sitting at the table with his parents and his grandmother. He thought that he might get out of this dinner intact. That for once, things would go smoothly. He was already confused and frustrated by what was happening between him and Luna and he didn't need any more anxiety from anyone.

Like the dinner at Luna's house months ago, things started out smoothly. His mother was handling the meal, Neville's grandmother was talking, mostly about holiday plans for Christmas, asking him how things were at college. His father was drinking but wasn't adding anything to the conversation which was fine by Neville. His first inkling that something might go wrong was his mother's questions about Luna.

"I thought that you and Luna were close Neville. But you never talk about her, she's never gone to visit you at the college."

"You told me that Luna was dating Harry, how can I ask her to visit me?"

"Well I thought that as friends, you would see each other once in a while."

"Right. Friends."

His mother didn't pursue the subject, to Neville's relief. But then she started talking about how he was planning to finish his program, start teaching and that was when his father got angry. He had been drinking steadily since early afternoon, was now starting to show signs of being drunk.

"Teach there? What could you teach? How not to be a success in life, right Neville?" His father said, slurring the words a little, gulping his drink down in two swallows, pouring himself another.

Neville didn't say anything, just looked at his plate, wishing that his father would just be happy for once with him. With their family.

"He can't even figure out how to get a girl to like him. That pretty girl next door, she doesn't want you."

"Frank, leave the boy alone." Neville's grandmother interjected. When she spoke, his father listened, even if it was resentfully. But Neville couldn't leave the subject alone, he was furious of the way his father talked about himself and Luna.

"Why should I be a success? Look at you. The business that was built for you, you managed to run into the ground in less than six years."

The moment the words were out of Neville's mouth, he regretted it. But his father lurched out from the table, stumbling.

"Fucking failure…"

Neville moved away as well, but not quite fast enough. His father caught him with his hand and gave a blow to Neville's side. It was pretty weak, his coordination pretty bad by now but it was enough for Neville to feel it and he fell against the table. His grandmother was shouting at his father, to calm down. But he was too worked up now. He broke a glass, cutting his hand. Staring down at it , he took a swipe at Neville, catching him on the chest, little shards of glass splintering into him through his shirt. Neville moved into his father who started to collapse into his arms. But he lurched back up, catching Neville off guard. The top of his head rammed into Neville's chin and he stumbled back and slipped, falling into the mantel, knocking his own head hard.

"Frank stop it…"

His mother had come up to them, saying she had called for an ambulance. His father's hand was bleeding pretty badly onto Neville. Neville lay down on the floor. He looked down at his chest, saw little drops of blood starting to seep through his shirt, steadily getting worse. He stared up at the ceiling, hearing voices around him, movement of people. He felt weak and started to close his eyes when he heard someone call his name.

"Neville."

He heard Luna's voice, very clearly and opened his eyes. He saw her standing over him, a look of complete anguish and panic on her face. She was pale, her mouth parted slightly, saying something to him. He couldn't quite hear the words. He wanted to say it was all right, that he was going to be fine, don't worry. But he was fading a little, the room going black.

When he next awoke, he was in the emergency room, half sitting up in a bed, a gown on him, IV attached to his wrist. There was a bandage on his chest, he could feel the tape sticking to him.

He looked over and saw two people standing beside his bed.

"Neville, you okay?"

"I'm okay Harry." He looked at Luna standing there a little behind him.

"I was coming over to meet Luna, she said there was an accident at your house."

"Yeah, I slipped a little, knocked my head against the table. Can you believe it?"

Harry laughed a little. "You were always clumsy Nev."

Yeah. Clumsy. I ran into a glass my father was carrying again.

Luna didn't say anything, she just watched Neville, picking up her cue from him.

"Where's my mom?" He asked her. Harry answered.

"She's okay, she's just checking on your father. They said that he had some kind of stroke or something? He cut his hand when he fell onto the table."

"No Harry, he didn't. They just said that he might have a stroke if things were this stressful for him in the future so they brought him in for observation. His hand had glass in it, they bandaged it up." Luna corrected him, still watching Neville.

Neville closed his eyes, not wanting to hear anything more. Harry spoke again.

"If you're okay, we're going to take off. I've got to bring Luna home."

"Sure, sure. Sorry for worrying you guys."

"I'm just going to stay a little longer Harry, please get the car. I'll be outside in a few minutes."

Luna waited until Harry had left, then closed the curtain firmly and came back to Neville's side. Her silvery eyes seemed to shimmer. Neville reached up and put a finger on her cheek where a tear started to drop down. She reached for him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her cheek against his.

"Do you want me to stay Neville?"

"No, it's okay. I'm sorry Luna…" He couldn't finish the sentence.

Luna stopped him by placing her hand on his shoulder, shaking him a little bit.

"I was so worried Neville…"

"Don't be, it was an accident. Sort of."

Luna looked at him and he looked away. He didn't want to tell her why his father was reacting the way he was, that his business was failing. That it had been like this for years and washing over into Neville, drawing him in and making him feel guilty for not being able to help, not willing to help. He didn't want to tell her what his father said about them either, that was too raw for Neville.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay Neville?"

Luna's voice was whispering the words, her head close to him. It was like that night of the storm all over again, when he felt a connection with her, provoking a need in him to be with her. She looked at Neville. Drawing him in, drowning him.

She reached up, placing her hand on his neck and kissed him softly on the mouth. Neville closed his eyes, feeling her lips and he touched her hair, pulling her closer to him. He was breathing in her mouth, harsh, rasping breaths and all of the sudden, he was kissing her hard, his tongue searching for hers. Her mouth opened a little, responding. His hands grasped her shoulders, half pulling her into the bed and he couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. He could feel himself getting hard, heard her whimper a little bit. He wasn't in his right mind, he thought to himself. His hand drifted down her back, towards her firm bottom, squeezing as he lifted her onto his chest, not letting go. moving his mouth down to her chin, her neck.

Someone coughed.

Luna turned and Neville could see beyond her, at the emergency doctor, holding the curtain closed.

"I have to examine you now."

"Okay."

"There's a man looking for a young lady out there."

"Okay."

Luna slid down off the bed, a little flushed. Neville felt himself turning red as the doctor looked at them both.

Luna turned to face him and Neville closed his eyes, not wanting to meet her gaze. She left quietly. The doctor watched her leave then turned his attention back to Neville.

"I looked at the film, you have a mild concussion. Doesn't seem too bad, if you're having any major headache, I can keep you overnight. Otherwise, I'm going to take off the bandage, see if I can stitch you up right here."

"Okay."

The doctor was silent for a moment, taking off the tape. He tsked a little bit, than started to give a little anesthetic to Neville.

"You know, you could talk to someone if you wanted to, or press charges."

"I won't do that."

"Well…" The doctor continued to stitch, Neville not watching him.

"That young lady who was in here with you…"

"Yes?"

"She was very worried, was grabbing your mother, shaking her down the hallway. She was extremely upset. I gather she was the one who found you."

"I'm not really sure, I think she and her boyfriend were coming to the house to visit, maybe heard something."

"Boyfriend? Well, that's interesting. "

Neville fell silent. The doctor finished, pulling the IV out of him and handing him a couple of tablets.

"Pain killer. Take them, you'll feel it for a while."

"Thanks doctor."

He nodded and started away from him. He turned back.

"It might be a good idea for your father to take a little time away, whatever has him so worked up can't be healthy for him in the long run. For either of you. Physically or otherwise."

"I know."

"Okay then." He left.

Neville started to pull on the shirt, wincing a little bit. He ignored the blood stain on the front and sleeve, buttoning it up slowly. He left the bed and stepped out to look around for his parents.

His grandmother was in the hallway, and he sat down next to her.

"Neville. I'm sure that you know that your father didn't mean what he said or did."

"Yes grandmother. I know." Neither of them said anything for a few moments.

"That girl was very upset. Who is she again?"

"Luna. She's our next door neighbor. She must have been coming back home when she saw the ambulance or something."

"Well, she came right in and ran over to you. It's a shame she had to see all of that."

Neville agreed. He didn't want Luna to know what was going on, didn't want her to feel sorry for him. It may be too late already, her coming in and finding him on the ground was probably a clue as to what was happening next door to her. He was having enough problems staying emotionally detached from her already, evidenced by his uncontrollable lust for her when she was around.

"Grandmother, I can't stay here. I'm leaving tomorrow morning. "

She sighed. "I know. I will keep an eye on your mother, someone has to."

Neville knew that his grandmother understood his need to be away, he just wasn't sure if Luna was going to understand as well.


	7. december

**Thank you for the favorite author alerts, I enjoy seeing where Neville and Luna will go next. I don't own any characters.**

December

Neville was packing up a duffle bag, ready to leave campus to return home for Christmas. He must be one of the last people to leave campus, he thought to himself, having waited until the very end. He said to his mom when she called to find out when he was coming back home that he had papers to write, some last minute research but really, he didn't want to deal with his family. And, worst of all, he didn't want to face Luna.

Every day he thought of her. Whether it was first thing when he woke up, his hand gripping himself, tangled up in his sheets, or in the shower where he would brace himself against the wall as he thought of her. In the classroom where the sight of another woman's blonde hair would set him on a path of fantasy or in the cafeteria, where the scent of vanilla would cause him to remember her skin. Even in the lab, he would be examining leaves and flowers and remembering her smell, her hand touching the leaf of the tree between them.

He had spoken to Ginny a couple of times and she updated him with what was going on with Luna and Harry. Neville never asked but always gripped the phone, sweating, waiting for news. He wasn't sure if Luna ever told her about what really happened to him the night of Thanksgiving. He had spoken to his father one time about it, his father not exactly apologizing, but resigned to the mistake he had made. His grandmother wrote him saying that he was undergoing some medical treatment, but neither she nor his mother would go into detail.

He dreaded going home thinking that he was going to need to deal with his parents again, need to face Luna again. He wanted her, there was no way around it. But it was too late. And he had to figure out a way to be around her as a friend or not be around her at all. And not being around her at all was unacceptable because each day he didn't see Luna was too much for him.

They hadn't spoken to each other since that night at the hospital, when she had kissed him. That kiss had shaken him inexplicably, made him feel like he was losing control. Being so close to her caused him to feel physically ill, like someone had punched him in the stomach, making him lose his breath suddenly. Probably Harry if he ever found out what he really felt. He couldn't think, couldn't see straight.

So when it was time for him to leave campus, he procrastinated. He finished up his research, shut his computer down. He picked up the bags at his side, looking out the windows. The wind was starting to pick up, snow that had fallen earlier in the day was blowing around quite a bit. He wasn't sure if it was a good time to be leaving or not. But, no choice, he'll have to chance it.

He was walking through the center of campus, pretty much alone, his car parked very far away from the research facility for this morning all the spaces were taken from people leaving for the holidays. He didn't mind the walk though, it helped to clear his head. It had snowed the night before and it had gotten very cold, all sound amplified so he heard crunching steps not that far behind him, realizing that he wasn't the only one headed out this evening. He turned around and saw a girl there, also carrying two bags and headed in the same direction as himself.

"Hi there." She said to Neville.

"Hello, I thought I was the only one left here."

"No, no, I didn't want to leave either, holidays always make me cranky and annoyed. Family."

"I know what you mean." Neville slowed down, waiting for her to catch up to him. She smiled, and he caught a glimpse of bluish eyes.

They walked in silence for a few moments , their footsteps matching step by step. The girl spied a coffee shop not too far from the edge of campus.

"Hey let's grab a hot chocolate, might as well put off the inevitable right?"

Neville hesitated for a second as she waited for his answer. She was attractive, with darkish blonde hair, a cap pulled down to her eyes, her hair waving around her shoulders. She had a nice smile too. But what he noticed was he didn't feel that pull in his stomach when he looked at her, didn't feel like he wanted to drop everything to be with her, touch her.

"Sure, that would be nice."

They trudged over, setting their bags down in the corner. There were a few people here, even though it was pretty late. The Christmas music was playing softly, a tree was set up. Neville went up to the counter and ordered two hot chocolates for them.

"Thanks, how much was it?"

"Oh, no, it's on me."

"Thanks again. My name's Hannah. Hannah Abbott, and yours?"

"Neville Longbottom. Nice to meet you."

Their hot chocolates came and they settled in, taking measure of each other. Hannah took her coat off and Neville studied her for a few moments. She was tall, almost as tall as he was, dressed in a simple brown sweater and black pants. She took her cap off and shook her hair out, a little water flicking out towards him. Neville sighed a little. He remembered the first day he met Luna. He pushed the thought out of his head. She plopped down on the sofa next to him with a sigh of relief.

"This day was really a waste. I should have headed out earlier, no one is around for the holidays."

"I know what you mean. It's actually good for me though, because the lab is empty and I can get my research done in peace and quiet." Neville took a sip of his chocolate. She watched him, stirring a spoon in her own cup.

"What are you studying?"

"Plants, biochemistry. The connection between the way we formulate pharmaceuticals and nature's way of developing plant properties. I'm doing a master's, finishing up later next year. I may try to present a thesis for a ph.D depending on how my research goes. How about you?"

"I'm in the hospitality and hotel management program. Nothing like what you're doing."

"No, yours is a much more important field. You need to deal with a lot of things, statistics, business finances. I couldn't begin to think about stuff like that. And people. Especially people. That's the most difficult connection of all." Don't I know it.

"That's nice, I never really thought about it that way. I always was good at talking to people, arranging the stuff that goes on in my family so I thought why not major in it? I didn't want to do it as a hobby though. I thought that getting a degree was the best way to learn. I would love to go to the cities, work at every major hotel chain to see what goes on. Everyone needs to stay in a hotel for major events, vacations, weddings, something."

"That's true." Neville took another sip of his chocolate, stirring the cream on top. He sighed again. Hannah watched him.

"You really don't want to head out do you?"

"Not really. It's not like there isn't anyone to see, I have my mom and dad, my grandmother and, uh, friends. But it's too much work." He stopped himself from mentioning Luna to her.

"I know what you mean. I have a pretty large family and it's always come to this house, come see this relative, meet this person, avoid that person, you look too thin, you look too fat."

Neville laughed out loud. Hannah grinned at him.

"I know right?"

Neville couldn't stop laughing, it had been a long time since he had felt this relaxed. Every time he went home, he felt tense, anticipatory. He realized he was tired, tired of fighting his father, tired of fighting for control, tired of fighting his own emotions when it came to Luna. And here was a girl, attractive, who knew nothing about his parent's situation, his worries and pain, Luna's strangle hold on him. It was enough just sitting here with her, laughing. Enough just chatting about something, anything else.

"You are very smart Hannah."

"Ha. Not quite. But thank you anyway.

They finished their drinks, Neville taking her cup to the side, Hannah smiling her thanks to him.

"Let me walk you to your car."

"Okay thanks Neville."

They headed back out laughing a little, watching the snow that had started to fall lightly. The lights started to come on down the sidewalk and Neville realized he was happy. He was glad she had asked him to have a hot chocolate, glad that he was walking her to her car. Glad that he was able to enjoy someone else's company.

They came up to her car, he helped her place her bags into the trunk.

"Good bye Neville. I'll see you around campus right?"

"Definitely. I'm over at the botany lab, ask for me."

"I will. Maybe we could get a drink in the new year."

Neville smiled at her. He realized that she wasn't someone he felt that connection with, not like Luna that first day but Hannah was very nice, attractive and he could see himself standing next to her, at a bookstore, watching a movie, normal things that couples did together he imagined.

He impulsively leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

"Have a good holiday."

Hannah smiled and got into her car, starting it and driving off. She waved through the window as she left. Neville lifted his hand in response.

He picked up his bags and walked over to his car. Funny, he never thought about being with anyone else. Never thought about maybe being happy with another woman. Maybe this was a start.


	8. discussion

**thank you for all the reviews. Poor Neville, I don't own any characters**

discussion

Neville had gotten home the night a few hours after saying good bye to Hannah, unpacking his things and settling back in his old room. He glanced over at Luna's window, noticing that it was dark. He assumed that she was out, probably with Harry. The thought made him physically sick. He slumped down onto his bed, not sure of what to do next. It was Christmas eve, he wasn't in the mood to sit around in his house not talking to anyone.

He wished he could climb out the window, lie out there and wait for Luna to reappear. Wait for her voice to drift over to him, calling out for him. For her to sit there, illuminated by the light in her room, the outline of her body soft in her nightgown. Neville lay down, squeezing his eyes tightly closed, thinking of her.

His mother told him about his father. He wasn't in the house when he came home, they were going to visit him tomorrow. He didn't want to press her about it, he knew what was going on. That his father was undergoing therapy, staying out at the hospital. A small part of him was glad that he wasn't there when he came home, glad that he could put off another episode. He wanted to leave this house.

So he went into town, seeing if anyone was around. He looked into store windows, saw a few things he purchased. A necklace for his mother of delicate gold links. A set of handkerchiefs embroidered for his grandmother. Socks and a pair of slippers for his father for when they visit him. He wasn't looking for anything for Luna, having already bought her a present, but everywhere he turned, he saw something that would be perfect for her. A pendant of shimmering silver like her eyes. A pair of gloves of soft leather, like her hands. A sweater that he could envision her wearing, her gorgeous body filling it out just right. But he didn't want to get her anything more, didn't want to overstep his boundaries. He saw a coffee shop was open, decided that he would go in for a little while. Think about things.

It was pretty busy, people with packages, gift bags, cheery greetings, the Christmas music chiming in the background. It was pretty festive and it made Neville think of Hannah for a moment, wondering if she was enduring a barrage of questions from her relatives and friends. The thought of that made him smile.

"Neville you look happy."

Neville looked up and saw Hermione standing there with Ron, balancing bags.

"Hello Hermione, Ron."

"Can we join you? It's completely bonkers in here."

"Of course, here, pull that chair over."

Hermione settled in beside him as Ron went to place their order.

"What were you thinking of Neville? You seemed pretty satisfied with yourself at that moment." Hermione said mischievously.

"Actually, I ran into this woman at the college yesterday. Her name is Hannah and she was telling me how she didn't want to go home because she didn't want to face the questions of her friends and relatives when she got there. It's funny, that's kind of how I feel sometimes."

"Neville, I never thought that you didn't want to hear from us!"

"It's not that Hermione, just sometimes…"

"And I certainly didn't expect you to say another woman's name when I saw you smiling."

Neville looked at Hermione. "What are you talking about?"

Hermione looked uncomfortable for a moment and hurriedly moved her coat off the chair she was saving for Ron as he approached, with coffee cups and doughnuts.

"Hermione?"

"Ron, tell Neville what you've decided to do next semester…"

"Hermione!"

She sighed a little. "I'm sorry Neville. I thought you were thinking about Luna."

Neville closed his eyes for a moment. Even when he wasn't thinking about her, it seems like he should be. Hermione watched him for a moment, saw him instinctively clench his fist. She and Ron looked at each other.

"You all right there Nev?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I mean, why wouldn't I be?"

"Neville, everyone knows how you feel about her." Hermione said.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Neville, even I know you have a thing for Luna and I don't think about it at all." Ron said, biting into a doughnut, dropping powdered sugar all over his sweater.

"Ron, you are such a mess. What's the matter with you?" Hermione said affectionately, dusting off his chest in exasperation. Ron just grinned at her, dropping sugar on top of where she had just brushed him off.

Neville wished he had that kind of relationship with Luna. The kind where he was comfortable with her, not afraid to be near her. He might have that with Hannah, if he really wanted to be with her. But he didn't, he only wanted one person. He stood up to go, saddened by that thought.

"I'd better get going guys. I've got a lot to do."

"Neville, please hear me out." Hermione held out a hand to stop him. He sat back down.

"You probably don't want me to say anything but I'm telling you, when Ginny and I saw you at the club over Thanksgiving, we knew that you really liked Luna. And, I think she does too."

"It doesn't matter, she's with Harry."

"Neville, she's only been with him for a couple of months, it's not like they're married or anything."

"Doesn't matter Hermione. She's his girlfriend, I can't interfere."

"You should have heard Luna talking about you in the hospital. She was almost crying, she was so upset."

"Did she say anything about why I was there?" Neville asked, his face darkening.

Hermione shook her head. "Only that there was an accident at your place. Why?"

"She's worried for me as a friend, as a neighbor. She showed up with Harry. She's with him remember?"

"I know but I am not sure if she's with him because that's just what's expected of her. Not because she has this desire to be with him. I mean Neville, you should hear how she talks about you!"

"Yeah Neville. She's always saying how wonderful you are, how kind, how smart. It makes Harry and me sick sometimes. I mean, I know you're a great guy but do you have to get the most beautiful girl in town ? Except you Hermione." Ron said. She rolled her eyes at him. "Everytime I see her, it's Neville this and Neville that." Ron finished his coffee. "It's tiresome."

Hermione nodded. "You see, she's always talking about you. I don't get it. How did she end up with Harry anyway?"

Neville didn't answer. He didn't want to say he was the one to introduce the idea to her, kept telling her what a great guy Harry was. He didn't want to say that he might have had a chance but couldn't take it.

"Look, I appreciate what you two are saying but really, there isn't anything between us. I don't think that Luna thinks of me as anything other than a friend and even if I did have those feelings, which I don't, she's with Harry now and he's good for her. I mean, she's happy right?" You're a liar Neville thought to himself.

"I think she's happy but she'd be happier with you mate." Ron said. He was serious too.

"Ron's right Neville."

He shook his head and got up, grabbing his coat and scarf.

"I'll see you guys after Christmas, it was good talking."

He left, leaving Ron and Hermione to stare at each other and at him in disbelief. He didn't want to hear anymore about Luna and himself, there was no Luna and himself. In fact, the more distance he put between them the better off they'd be.

Neville walked for what seemed like hours, not really looking at anything or anyone, just trying to focus his thoughts. He wished that he could call Hannah, could talk to her for a few moments. Find out if she was willing to arrange his life plans. He'd gladly put her in charge, just so he didn't have to think about them anymore.

Of course he would run into the one person he was trying not to think about. Dressed in a tight coat with delicate trim, a wool hat and knee high boots, carrying a shopping bag, Luna looked beautiful. He would think that even if she were dressed in a garbage bag, barefoot, or without any clothing on. Actually, if she didn't have any clothing on, he wouldn't be able to control himself.

"hello Neville, I was hoping I would run into you."

"Hello Luna." Neville reached out and took her elbow, edging her closer to him. She smiled dreamily up in his face and Neville felt inexplicably happy for a moment. Ron was right, she was the most beautiful girl in town. She shivered a little and he said "It's cold Luna, why aren't you wearing a scarf?"

"I lost it Neville, I had it and then I didn't." He shook his head and struggled to not put his hand around her neck, wanting to warm her skin, wanting to put his mouth on her throat again, taste her.

"Have you finished your Christmas shopping?" She asked in her soft voice.

"Yes, almost. What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I'm supposed to go over to Harry's place, spend some time with him." Luna said this matter-of-factly, unaware that she was putting a knife into Neville.

He deflated, dropping her elbow. Neville stopped walking and Luna didn't notice for a moment, still continuing forward. She stopped as well after a few steps and turned back to him. "Neville?"

"You'd better head back home now Luna. I'm going to stay around town for a little while longer." He said quietly. He tried to hide it but the hurt reached out to Luna and she longed to take him in her arms, kiss the pain away.

Please stay, please stay.

"Are you going to be home later tonight?"

"I don't think so Luna." He was but he didn't want her to think he was a loser, not going out, waiting around for her.

She was silent for a moment. Then Luna handed him the shopping bag.

"This is for you Neville. I hope you enjoy it then and I'll see you after Christmas."

"Luna, you didn't have to give me anything."

"I wanted to Neville."

Neville felt like a jerk. He stood there not moving and Luna gently took his hand and handed him the bag. He leaned forward and took it, not moving away. He reached for her, pulling Luna against his body, holding her for a moment. He bent his head down to her hair, inhaling her scent of vanilla and roses, wrapping his arms around her back. He wanted desperately to tell her to please walk home with him, please let's talk like we used to, before you started dating Harry, before we kissed and my life was over.

"Luna." He whispered. She closed her eyes, reaching around his chest, not saying a word. She didn't want to let go.

Snow started to fall, coating them both. Time stood still for a moment and then Neville reluctantly stepped back and Luna walked away.

He watched her go, wanting to call out to her, not sure what he would be calling out to her.


	9. christmas

**Thank you to everyone reading this story. It has adult themes. I don't own any characters.**

Christmas

It was Christmas day.

Neville and his mom had opened their presents, sitting around the tree that Neville had put up two nights ago. He had received several books on plants from his grandmother, Hermione and Ron, his mother. She really liked the necklace he purchased for her, said that his grandmother would enjoy the handkerchiefs when they visit her later. Neville's father was home for a few hours, mostly sitting silently, but after a while, they had driven him back to the hospital where he had been staying for the past month. The strain of selling the stores had been too much for him and he had undergone a nervous breakdown. He hadn't said anything since Thanksgiving night other than lashing at Neville and his mom. He couldn't help it, not really and Neville was trying very hard not to be angry at him. But he hated what it was doing to his mother, more then what it was doing to him. The guilt of not being around was starting to build up. But it was Christmas day, so after they returned to their house, his mom went upstairs to rest, taking the sleeping pill their family doctor had prescribed to her earlier and Neville let her, not bringing up anything.

He cleared everything away and then went upstairs to his bedroom, switching the light on to open the present that he had been saving, the one from Luna.

Neville sat on his bed, holding it in his hands. He liked the idea that maybe she had wrapped this carefully for him, in green paper with pine cone detailing, a red ribbon with gold threads tied around it and a card with her very distinctive cursive writing. Neville always smiled when he saw it. He had received a few letters from her in the past, citing how she hated email and texting. Not personal enough. He never really read the letters, not wanting to hear about how happy she was with Harry. Neville knew that he was being a coward, like his father had once called him but he just liked to remember the way she reached out to him, how they had kissed that day. He sometimes smelled the letters, trying to catch the scent of her. He placed the card now to his nose, thinking that he could smell vanilla. He tucked the card beside him and opened the box, revealing a dark blue cashmere sweater, softer than anything he had ever felt besides her.

He immediately put it on, closing his eyes, thinking about her hand on his chest, travelling down his navel to his hardness, gripping him. Neville stopped himself. He took a few deep breaths, shaking the thought away. He picked up the gift sitting on his desk and headed back downstairs.

Neville had gotten Luna a present, a scarf, before he had run into Hermione and Ron, before Luna had even said she had lost hers. It was different colored silks woven together, shades of blues, greens, pinks, yellows, enhancing a pattern of birds and flowers. It was expensive but he bought it anyway, thinking it would suit Luna very well with her love of all colors. He had meant to drop it while she was at Harry's house but he didn't want to miss another chance to be with her. Even if it was just a quick hello and thank you. It was enough. So Neville hung around for the next few hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of her running into her home, maybe running towards his house.

But, to his disappointment, day turned into night, then midnight into one am and still no sign of her. Neville had several whiskies during the course of waiting and was working on his fourth. He was decidedly drunk and so went downstairs onto the porch, standing there, holding the rail, trying to clear his head. Snow had fallen and the night was very still, a million stars in the sky shining brightly though none as brightly as the girl who was now walking over to him at this moment.

"Hello Neville."

"Hello Luna."

Luna saw him standing at the rail, looking very tired. She remembered how he had looked the last time she was at his house, when he was on the floor. What she felt when she saw him bleeding wasn't anything she could articulate.

She was screaming his name, until he opened his eyes to look at her. That look he gave to her was indescribable, like the curtain had finally lifted and his true feelings were staring at her. Longing, love, it made her heart skip a beat. Made her whisper what she felt, even though she wasn't sure he could hear her.

He closed his eyes again and she ran to the emergency worker, grabbing him, forcing him to see Neville. They were bringing him out to the ambulance when Harry drove up. Luna explaining to him that there had been an accident, not wanting to tell Harry everything. He had pulled her to his side and she almost pushed him away, wanting to climb into the ambulance to be with Neville, wanting to hold his hand, kiss his sorrows away. To be there when he awoke.

"Are you waiting up for me?"

"No, I'm just standing out here, it's nice out." Neville lied, pretty sure that she could tell that he was lying but he didn't want to seem so pathetic.

Luna came up to stand next to him, her head pushed up against his arm. Neville tentatively placed his arm on her, resting his hand between her shoulder blades.

"You look very nice Neville. Is the sweater the right size? I was hoping that it would fit."

"It's great Luna, thanks."

Neville wanted to say how beautiful she looked. Her hair was loose, moving around a little as the wind picked up, wavy around her shoulders. She was dressed in a long buttoned tunic of deep plum with dark green leggings and black boots. Her coat was unbuttoned and she didn't have a scarf on, her neck bare. Neville wanted to put his hand on it, feel her skin. Wanted to put his mouth on the hollow of her neck and kiss it. The urge was so strong he had to hold onto the railing for a moment until it passed.

"Are you all right Neville?"

"Yes Luna."

"I received these earrings from Harry."

Neville looked at the gold hoops that adorned her ears, they had little decorative vines on them with tiny green enamel leaves. Neville was envious, they were very unique and he wished he were the one able to give her such a distinctive gift.

"Nice."

"I really like them but my father gave me earrings as well and I don't want to disappoint him by not wearing them. So I wore these today to show Harry but tomorrow they're going away for a while."

Neville thought that Luna always spoke her mind. He wasn't sure if it was only around him that it happened but he was happy that she did. He could listen to her talk about the weather, stock reports, paint drying, it wouldn't matter. He loved her high pitched, sighing voice. A little part of him also loved the fact she couldn't wear the gift her own boyfriend gave to her.

Luna spied the gift next to him.

"Did you get another present?"

Neville wordlessly passed it to her, Luna's face lightening up. He watched as she carefully took the card off the paper, smiling up at him.

"There's mistletoe on this paper."

She opened the card. It had taken him four tries to write To Luna From Neville. He had torn up the other three, having written the word love twice and spelling his own name wrong one time. She opened the box and out spilled the scarf, its colors vibrant in the moonlight.

"Oh Neville…" Luna sighed, immediately putting it on. "It's beautiful, I just love it. Thank you so much, it's wonderful."

Luna wrapped her arms around his neck, burrowing her face into his chest. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, pressing her face against his for a moment. Neville couldn't take it anymore, her skin was so smooth, she smelled like flowers, her long hair surrounded him and so he pulled her against him, clasped her face between his hands and kissed her.

His mouth pressed hard on hers, he couldn't help it, he couldn't get enough, and he forced her to open her lips with his tongue, biting them, bruising her. He felt Luna's hands slipping underneath his sweater, skittering around his neck and chest. Everywhere she touched felt like little electric shocks going through his body, sending twinges of pleasure through him. He gripped her chin with one hand, grasping the back of her head with the other, not able to stop, not wanting to stop, feeling a frisson of heat between them. He pushed her scarf aside, knocking her coat to the ground, Luna breathing heavily, clutching him. He stared at her exposed neck, placing his mouth right on the hollow like he wanted to before, breathing her in. He sucked a little, licking her, moving downward past the buttons of her shirt to the softness that lay right about her curves. Luna closed her eyes, feeling Neville's tongue trailing between her breasts, warm, wet, followed by his hands, large, roughened yet gentle on her skin. She held her breath as he cupped them carefully, pressing his palms onto her.

He led her silently into the house, into the living room, and sat in an armchair, pulling her down onto his lap, Luna straddling him, feeling his hardness against her thigh. He quietly pulled her shirt off, pushing her bra down to her waist. He exhaled deeply, looking down at her chest, over her breasts, memorizing them. He gently took them in his hands, Luna arching her back, giving herself up to him.

Neville brought his mouth down, licking and sucking, her nipples hardening under his touch. She gripped his neck, his hair and he could feel her heart beating quickly. They kissed again, she could taste the whisky on his tongue, could feel him hard, urgent against her leg.

Neville groaned quietly, not sure of what he was doing. He couldn't help himself, every second felt like it would slip away. He pulled her hand down to his thigh, making sure she knew what he felt for her, feeling his hardness strain against touch. Luna caressed him slowly, looking right at him. Neville couldn't stop, couldn't hide what he was feeling, she could see every emotion in his eyes. Her breath hitched and she leaned in, kissing his mouth again, her tongue meeting his. Neville dropped his hands onto her back and moved her up into him, running his hand down her spine, resting it on her firm bottom, sliding his finger between her cheeks. He squeezed a little and Luna sighed into his mouth, the sound very sweet to his ears.

He didn't know how long they'd been sitting there, Luna in his lap, her clothing half off, her skirt pushed up around her waist, his mouth on hers, hands pushing her closer to him. He didn't know how long he had been fondling her, kissing her, murmuring her name. He only knew that he wanted her there forever, wanted her to unzip his pants and take him out, putting her mouth around him. Wanted to place her on the floor, make her fully understand what he was feeling. But he couldn't, he shouldn't. She wasn't his, and he wasn't able to tell her what he felt. But Neville couldn't stop. I'm falling for you he thought to himself. And I'm afraid, afraid of falling too deeply. It would break me if you left me.

One of her earrings grazed his cheek, scratching it. Neville pulled back, suddenly aware that he was touching someone else's girl, Harry's girlfriend no less. Luna looked at him, out of breath, her mouth swollen and red. Her eyes shined at him, asking him a question. Neville looked at his own hands still grasping her hip and bottom, and he closed his eyes taking a deep shuddering breath. He gently closed her shirt, gently leaned away from her.

"Neville…"

"You should probably go home now. It's late."

"Neville…"

"It's okay sweetheart, I'll see you later, I'll come over tomorrow."

"You're going to be around for the new year?"

"Sure, sure, go home now, it's okay."

Luna slipped off him, giving him one more kiss. He had no idea just how much Luna was attracted to him, no idea that the sight of his face, the sound of his voice, made her breath catch. Made her regret that he wasn't able to tell her what he felt, that they no longer confided in each other.

Neville sat there for a long time afterwards, knowing that he had just given his heart to her. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to see her for a long time, not until he was able to pick up his own emotional pieces and put himself back together again. He wasn't staying for the new year, he couldn't watch her kiss Harry. Wouldn't be able to hold himself back from begging her to be with him.

Neville knew he was leaving in the morning.


	10. march

**thank you everyone for the reviews and alerts. Neville and Luna are so confused. I don't own any characters, just my imagination**

Spring

Neville smiled at the girl next to him. She was chatting up a storm, talking about the class she had just attended before they both left to return to his home, her family and the next time they would see them, how excited she was to meet his mom.

"Oh gosh, it does seem like a long time since you've come back!"

"About a month or two."

"It'll be nice to see your mom."

"Yes, it will be."

"It's a shame I won't have a chance to meet your dad."

Neville didn't answer, he didn't want to get into the fact that his dad had to go to the hospital for a complete mental breakdown, spending the last two months in a psychiatric ward. Not many people knew about it. Actually only his family knew that he was aware. Don't know if keep this or not in next chapter details

He took her hand, noting that it was sturdy and firm, capable of dealing with any task.

"You really should use moisturizer Neville, the work you've been doing is really wrecking them."

Practical as always.

Neville turned his car into the driveway, waving at his mom from the window. He opened the car door, striding up to her, hugging her. He turned to the girl that came up beside him.

"Mom, this is Hannah.

"Hello Hannah, it's nice to meet one of my son's friends. Are you studying plants as well?"

"Oh no, I could never get my head wrapped around such things. I'm studying psychology right now but I may switch to hotel management. Hospitality. Stuff like that."

His mother smiled absent-mindedly, going back into the house, Neville and Hannah following her.

"Are you planning to stay here?"

"No mom, I talked to Ginny beforehand, Hannah's staying over there for the weekend. Ron's out of town and she's going to stay in his bedroom."

"That's nice. I would have liked you to stay here but…" his mom's voice trailed off, Neville watching her anxiously. Hannah was moving around the room, looking at pictures, at books sitting on the shelves. He wanted to tell her to stand still but didn't dare, didn't want to draw attention to the fact that his mom was feeling a little nervous about his bringing someone home to meet her.

"Luna was asking for you before Neville, she's going to be at Harry's house tonight, there's some kind of party. I think Harry got some kind of early acceptance to another college. She wanted to know if you were coming over tonight."

"Good for Harry." Neville replied sarcastically. He didn't want to think about him, didn't even want to comprehend the idea that Luna might be leaving with him. Without Neville.

"Who's Luna?"

Neville didn't answer Hannah, not wanting to go into it. Not wanting to say that Luna was the woman he wanted more than anything in the world but couldn't have. Was afraid to have, because he couldn't control his emotions when he was around her. And the only thing he had these past years was the ability to control himself. That may not go well with Hannah, or any woman knowing that she may be only second best. He had spent the better part of three months trying not to think about her, not coming back home to face her.

"She's our next door neighbor, she and Neville have been friends since she moved in."

"Oh that's nice. I would like to meet her."

Right. Neville wondered how he could get out of going to this party tonight.

"I've got to go upstairs, grab some stuff."

Neville bounded up the steps, to his room. He looked out his window towards Luna's room but there wasn't anyone in there. He sat on his bed, thinking about the last conversation he had with Ginny, about a month ago. He had finished up some research at the college, than contacted her house to congratulate Ron who had asked Hermione to marry him. Ginny was happy to hear from him but was distracted, a little upset. She talked about all their friends, not mentioning Luna once. Finally, Neville said something.

"So, uh, have you seen Luna? And Harry I mean?"

"Yes, I have." Silence.

Neville was getting nervous, was about to say something when Ginny continued.

"Neville, I know that you were kind of close to Luna before she started dating Harry." This was not going to go well.

"I wanted to tell you that Harry is kind of thinking about asking Luna to marry him." The earth dropped from under his feet. Neville felt his knees give out, actually felt himself going down to the floor, almost dropping the phone.

His Luna was going to marry someone else? His Luna? Ginny continued talking, not aware that Neville was dying inside.

"I'm a little disappointed too. I mean, I'm really happy that Harry has found someone he could love and I really like Luna but I always kind of thought that Harry and I got along really well together, and that maybe, you know…" Ginny trailed off.

Neville had gently hung up the phone, than gone down the hallway into the restroom. He threw up in a stall, retching, heaving. He felt clammy, dizzy. He leaned against the wall, wanting to lie down on the floor, wanting to die. He stayed in the stall for over twenty minutes, unable to move, unable to physically get himself back up. He went to the sink, splashed water on his face, catching sight of himself in the mirror, his reflection showing a pale, unshaven mess. Why would Luna want someone like him with nothing to offer? He was drunk at Christmas, she must have known it. He thought of her mouth on his. Of her sitting in his lap, of him cupping her breasts, the look on her face when he dared to see her reaction to him. He closed his eyes, knocking his head against the mirror several times.

He had walked out of the lab that day and gone to his apartment, thinking about what Ginny had told him. Several times he had picked up the phone, ready to call her, ready to beg her to rethink her decision, whatever it was. But he didn't, he just lay there, all night, not sleeping, going over his mistakes. He never went to see her after that night at Christmas, never called her. Never wrote to her even though she had sent him several letters, the first two asking about him, the last one basically just a postcard, saying that she was doing okay. He wanted to tell her about his parents, talk to her like they did when they first met, tell her that he missed her every day, that he longed for her, lusted after her. Wished she were with him.

The next day, as he was walking to his lab, he saw Hannah across the campus park and had caught up with her.

"Hey Hannah, I haven't seen you since we left each other for the holidays."

"Oh hi Neville! That's right, I wanted to tell you that only three people talked about how my life would be vastly improved with someone in it." She replied with a smile, tossing her hair back.

Neville smiled back, realizing that she was very easy to talk with and that there wasn't any reason for him not to ask her out. So he did, arranging to meet her for a drink then dinner. That date led to another and another and a week later, they were kissing outside her door. Neville trying very hard not to compare her to Luna. After a little while, it got easier. He found himself looking forward to seeing her after classes, for dinners.

He had spoken with Ginny a few times, mentioning Hannah to her, wondering if she was going to tell Luna about his dating. The letters stopped arriving from her so he assumed that she knew, was busy planning her new life with Harry.

She's probably going to be better off with him, Neville thought as he stared at her window. He doesn't have any family so there wouldn't be any problems like what was happening with his father. Losing the stores, having to commit himself so that he could get a grip on his mental health. His mother and grandmother fighting over the family finances, worries about whether or not his father would be coming out any time soon. Luna didn't need that, she had enough problems. She was on her own pretty much already, she needed someone like Harry to take care of her. Neville closed his eyes, feeling his stomach clench, thinking about Luna with Harry, in bed, his mouth on her, Luna telling him how much she loved him. Fuck. Fuck.

Neville found himself lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of his mother and Hannah laughing downstairs. Well, if she's going to be with Harry, there's no reason for me not to be with Hannah. She was easy to be with, no emotional strain with her. And she was pretty, with her smile and hair. It sounded like his mother got along with her well enough too. Besides, he couldn't exactly face Luna right now, not after having avoided her all this time, after not talking to her for months.

The phone rang and he picked it up.

"Hello."

"Hi Neville, when are you coming over?"

"Soon Ginny. Hannah's down here talking with my mom."

"Well, a few of us are going to the bar, why don't you meet us there? That way everyone can meet Hannah too."

"Uh, okay I guess."

He went back downstairs, Hannah sitting there at the kitchen table, like Luna did that first day. His mother was listening to her talking. Neville didn't say a word until she stopped.

"Hannah, Ginny wants us to go out to meet her, meet a few friends of ours."

"Oh that would be great! Right now?"

"Sure, why not."

His mother watched as Hannah left, Neville hesitating behind her. She knew that this girl wasn't for her son. That he was still struggling with his feelings for Luna. But she let them go, thinking that maybe it was for the best. Neville had enough to worry about without having to deal with his own conflicting emotions.


	11. breaking

**thank you for all the alerts and reviews. Poor Luna I don't own any characters**

Breaking

Neville drove himself and Hannah to the center of town, parking a few blocks from the bar where they were supposed to meet everyone. He and Hannah got out of the car, heading over. Hannah smiled at him, and reached for his hand as someone greeted them.

"Hey there Neville!"

He turned, greeting the man who came up to them.

"Hi Seamus, I haven't seen you since Thanksgiving. This is my friend Hannah."

"Hi Hannah, you going over to the bar?"

"Hi Seamus. Yes, I'm staying over the weekend with one of Neville's friends."

"That must be Ginny, Ron's out of town, on a job interview. Isn't it great that he and Hermione are engaged? Long time coming that's what I say."

"That is good."

"Yeah. I ran into Harry too. It looks like he might have some exciting news as well pretty soon!"

Neville stumbled a little, feeling like he walked right into a brick wall. He forced himself to put one foot forward, then the next, letting Seamus talk to Hannah. If he knew about Harry and Luna, then it must be serious.

"Have you known Neville a long time?" He heard Seamus asking Hannah.

"A couple of months, we're at the same college together."

"That's nice, he's a great friend…" Yeah, that's right Neville the great friend.

They entered the bar a few minutes later. The music had started and people were crowding the dance floor already. Neville spotted Ginny immediately by the bar talking to Hermione and she waved him over.

"Hi Ginny. Hi Hermione. Thanks for letting my friend Hannah stay over."

"Hi Neville! Oh that's fine, it's nothing really. Hi there I'm Ginny."

"I'm Hannah, this is such a great place!"

"It is, we all come out here during holidays and breaks, meet up with everyone. This is Hermione."

"I hear that congratulations are in order! What a beautiful ring!"

"Thanks. Neville had told me about meeting you over Christmas."

"He did? That's great. He's so nice! " Hannah smiled at Neville who blushed a little under Hermione's pointed look. He hurriedly moved Hannah to another friend.

"Have a drink, this is Dean…"

Neville left them talking with each other, ordering a whiskey at the bar and looking for Luna. He didn't see her anywhere and for a moment he was disappointed. He stood around not sure of what to do and felt someone put a hand in his arm. He turned, starting to smile and stopped when he saw Hannah.

"There you are! Let's dance a little, come on. It'll be fun."

"I don't really dance Hannah…"

"It's fine Neville. See, we'll just stand and move to the music! I'll show you…"

The music was quick, there were a couple of people out there already. Hannah pulled Neville out to the floor, Hermione and Ginny nudging each other. Hannah was comfortable, getting into the spirit of the dance, taking his arm and hand and moving around with the other couples. Neville felt himself start to relax. It was easy being with her. She didn't know anything about his family life beyond what he had told her, he didn't reveal any fears to her, any real or true emotions yet. He didn't feel tense, anticipatory. There was laughter, some semblance of happiness. He pulled her close to him impulsively and kissed her temple. Hannah leaned back and smiled at him, touching his cheek, her joy evident in her face.

The music stopped, Neville looked up from Hannah and sensed someone watching them. He looked over to the edge of the crowd and saw Luna, standing there with Harry. She was dressed in a dark green dress, with a v-neck, a purple pair of leggings and thigh high boots. She leaned over to whisper something to Harry, not taking her eyes off Neville. Neville's mouth dried up all of the sudden and it was like there were only two people in the room, him and Luna. He stood still, ignoring the fact that Hannah had gone over to talk to Ginny, not seeing Hermione watching them, not realizing that others in the bar had noticed his attention to Luna.

In the silence, Luna walked over and introduced herself to Hannah, pointedly ignoring Neville.

"Hello Hannah, I'm Luna. I live next door to Neville."

"Oh, I've heard so much about you! His mom was just saying how you and he were such great friends."

"Yes. We've known each other for a while."

"Isn't he great? He's so funny, he could make me laugh sometimes so hard with the things he says. That's an interesting color combination you have on, it's pretty daring. Oh and you must be Harry! Hi, I'm Hannah."

Harry spoke with her as Neville and Luna stood by, neither of them saying a word to each other.

"Congratulations Harry." Neville said quietly, not sure if he was congratulating him on getting an early acceptance or being engaged to Luna. It hurt to say the words. He wanted to grab Luna and shake her. But instead, he stopped himself from moving closer to her, stopped himself from reaching out to take her hand. Hold her against him.

"Thanks Nev. I'm pretty happy, working towards something right Luna?" Harry smiled at her, taking her hand.

Luna's smile faltered a little. She turned to Neville and looked at him, her eyes looking bruised. He tried a smile at her but she turned her back on him and walked away, her hair fluttering behind her, a whiff of her scent reaching him. Harry and Hannah continued to chat and started to dance together as the next song began.

"Hannah, I'll be right back."

She didn't hear him and he followed Luna. She was headed to the ladies room, down a darker corridor at the end of the hall, her head down.

"Luna."

She ignored him, he knew that she could hear him calling her name. He strode faster towards her, catching her elbow.

"Luna."

His voice broke a little, she could hear it. Luna turned and leaned against the wall, looking up at this face.

"Hello Neville."

She looked vulnerable, lost. He hadn't seen that look since the night of the storm, when the power suddenly came back on, illuminating them.

Suddenly, Neville didn't know what to say to her. He wanted to explain that he knew Hannah from college, that she was open and nice to him. That she was easy to be with, didn't expect much from him. That he was unable to deal with what he was feeling for Luna, unable to deal with wanting to touch her every time he saw her, knowing he couldn't and shouldn't. He was tired of hiding his family problems from her, and wanted her to be happy even if it wasn't with him. But that was a lie. He didn't want her to be happy if it meant she was with someone else.

Luna smiled tremulously all of the sudden, holding back tears. "She seems really nice Neville."

"Who?"

"Hannah."

"Oh. Yes, she is."

"I'm glad. Are you coming over to Harry's later?"

Neville hated the fact that his name came out of her mouth. She said it with such a soft sigh, like she had just slept with him, calling out his name as he made her come. Neville wanted to punch the wall, wanted to actually hit Harry. He braced his arms on either side of her, pinning her in. She looked up at his face, startled by the expression on it. He looked completely frustrated and for a moment, Luna wanted to touch him, wanted to bring his mouth down to hers. But Neville was here with someone else, he wouldn't want her to do that.

"Yes, it's what we're supposed to do right? Hang out with our friends, introduce our significant others, hope they get along."Neville spat out the words, looking into Luna's face. It seemed like she could see right through him. He was lost in her eyes, bending his head down to her.

You're breaking me. You're hurting me.

"I'm glad that Hannah is significant to you."

Fuck this, Neville thought. He gripped Luna by the throat, startling her. His face turned dark for a second, as he put more pressure on her neck, Luna struggling to breathe, turning a little pink, her eyes widening. The sound she was making was unbearable, he felt like his chest was going to explode. He wanted to lift her up, kiss her, drag her into the ladies restroom, fuck her, knock her out with his bare hands, scream at her, make her see what she was doing to him. This was the worst moment of his life.

"I don't want to hear it Luna, I don't. Get that through your head." Neville said, through gritted teeth, spitting the words out at her. He pushed himself up against her, one part of him so angry at himself, the other part of him barely able to stop himself from ripping her clothing off and making her understand exactly what he needed.

He let her go, Luna collapsing against the wall onto the floor and he turned around. He couldn't look at her, didn't want to see the hurt look in her eyes again. Didn't want to beg her to stay with him. He went back to the bar, up to Hannah,

"…and that color she was wearing! Do you think she doesn't realize what she's putting on?" Hannah was saying to Hermione, laughing. Hermione looked over at Neville coming over, knowing that he wouldn't like to hear someone insulting Luna, even if it was in jest. His face had closed down and he took Hannah by the arm, saying that they had to go. The look on his face was unmistakable to those who knew him, angry, frustrated, unbearably sad. Ginny and Hermione looked at each other, noting that Luna was nowhere to be found.

"You guys are headed over to Harry's later tonight?" Ginny asked.

"I don't think so."

"Oh Neville, Ginny was just telling me how nice it will be, everyone getting together one last time before separating. We should definitely go, your mother will be all right." Hannah chirped, getting a thumbs up from Harry.

Neville though that everyone was always telling him what he should be doing, what would be best for him. What different did it make? He found himself nodding yes, they'd come over in a little while. He didn't w ant to stay one second longer, didn't want to see Luna as she came back into the room. He was afraid, afraid that he wouldn't be able to control himself much longer.


	12. leaving

**thank you for all the reviews and alerts. This is a mature chapter. I don't own any characters**

Leaving

The first thing that Neville saw when he entered the house with Hannah was Luna, chatting happily with Harry and other friends, looking as if nothing had happened between them at the bar, like she didn't have a care in the world. Harry had his hand on the small of her back, pressing her up against him, smiling at her lovingly. Neville watched them, aware that his mood was very dark, very much aware that he was losing control. He led Hannah past her, trying to not stare at Luna. He could see a bruise on her neck where he had grabbed her before. He wanted to put his lips on her bruise, wanted to say how sorry he was. Harry raised a hand to them, Luna didn't even bother to turn around.

He sat down on the stairs for a while, drinking. Hannah had flitted from person to person, being her own nice self. Well, nice to everyone but to Luna. He had heard what she was saying before about Luna's sense of style, he was pretty angry about that. He didn't like that she made fun of her, she didn't even know her. But there Hannah was, her fake smile directed at Luna, who looked back at her calmly. No wonder she wanted to go into hospitality, she was great at it. Neville took another swallow, aware that he was slightly drunk. The conversation around the room receded a little as he focused on Luna. On her hair, her face, her smile. She didn't look at him, not once. He couldn't blame her could he? Didn't he just basically tell her to fuck off at the bar? Didn't he basically assault her, hurt her?

"Hey Neville, it looks like Hannah is having a good time." Hermione came up to speak to him.

"Yep. She is.

"She seems really nice, so suitable for you."

"Yep. That's right. Suitable."

Hermione gave him a look. "You ok?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be okay. I'm with a suitable woman who will give me no troubles, nothing to worry about." Hermione looked like she was going to add something but then Harry called out to him.

"Hey Neville, can you grab some glasses from the kitchen for me?"

That was Neville, a guy who was good for fetching drinks glasses for Harry, for helping out at parties. He glanced over to Hannah who was now talking with Ginny and Seamus, laughing at something, not really paying any attention to him. Neville went into the kitchen, finding the liquor bottles. He opened one, pouring himself another drink before searching the cabinets, looking for glasses. A hand brushed past him to reach up and take two down, setting them on the counter.

Neville looked over at Luna. He felt the energy in the room change, like a shimmer of heat, just from her being near him. She turned away and went out the back door, into the garden. He didn't think, he just followed, catching up with her as she bent down to touch a rose near the back fence. The lights were on in various spots in the trees, the horizon just starting to turn dusky.

"Hello Neville."

"Hello Luna."

Her voice always sounded so dreamy to him, so soothing. He could listen to her all night. Neither of them said anything more, Luna just smoothed down the folds of her skirt while looking away from him. The setting sun illuminated her, made it seem like she was lit up from inside. She looked wonderful to Neville, perfect. Didn't she know that she was breaking his heart? He knew that she was with Harry, that there was no chance for him, probably never was in the first place. He could hear laughter drifting their way from the house, reminding him that they should return. But he didn't want to leave, he wanted to hear Luna's voice, keep her talking to him. He wished that he could suspend time, keep this moment of the two of them standing here forever.

"Hannah is very nice Neville."

"Yes."

He didn't want to talk about Hannah. He wanted to ask Luna about her relationship with Harry, find out if what Ginny said was true. He hadn't seen an engagement ring on her finger. But maybe his father was right. He was a coward.

"So I hear that you and Harry are pretty close now, that you're very serious about him."

"Well I don't know about that Neville."

"But you're happy to be with him right?. I mean, you really like him…"

"Harry is a wonderful person. I became quite close to him after the holidays."

Neville looked away from her at that statement, remembering how he had left her, not wanting to face her the next day.

"Well isn't Harry the lucky guy."

"I'm sure he thinks so."

"And he's gotten an early acceptance to continue his studies, he's going to be leaving soon?"

"I'm not sure Neville, he and I haven't discussed his plans yet. But I'll be sure to let you know."

Neville thought bitterly to himself that it was useless, that Luna was probably going to leave with Harry, probably marry him, have a great life, no problem. Well so what, he thought, he was here with someone too right?

"Well I've got to get back, take Hannah back home."

"You're leaving so soon?"

"Yes, I think we will probably leave tonight."

"It was nice to see you."

"Good bye Luna."

"Good bye Neville." She held out her hand, like the first time they had met. Neville took it, remembering her soft palm, holding it gently. Luna looked up into his eyes, not saying anything.

Please don't leave. Please don't leave.

"I saw your father yesterday."

Neville dropped her hand, stared at her. His father was in the hospital, how could she have seen him?

Luna looked back at him calmly, a serene look on her face.

"What are you talking about?"

"I went to see him at the hospital. Your mother asked me to visit, she wasn't able to at the time. We had gone several times these past few months, she's a little upset and not able to drive and a taxi to the hospital is quite expensive. So I take her twice a week, go up with her."

Neville continued to stare at Luna. She knew that his father had ended up in the psychiatric ward,, following his own voluntary commitment. His mother hadn't said anything to him about telling Luna, other than his grandmother was saying negative things, hinting that she could go through the same thing. Weakness in the family, no strength, no substance. His mom was a crying wreck. Finances at an all time low, unable to sell the chain. He didn't tell anyone, he didn't want anyone to know about their problems. The last person he wanted to know was Luna. He didn't want her to be sorry for him, to pity him for what his father was doing to their family, to him. He didn't want her to feel relieved that she didn't get involved with him, that she had chosen the right person for her life.

"I feel so badly for your mother, she's all alone, it's too much for her..."

Neville could hear Luna talking about helping his mother out at the house, cleaning, bringing clothing to his father. Guilt started to gnaw at him, he couldn't listen anymore. He knew he should have been at home, Luna shouldn't have to deal with this anxiety, Luna is much better off without him, she didn't need this wearing her down. He wasn't even listening to Luna until he heard her mention Harry's name.

"And I said to Harry…"

Neville stared at her, stunned. Luna said something to Harry about his father? He knew what was going on? He couldn't believe she would do something like that.

"He had said you weren't going to be around for a while…"

Neville closed his eyes, didn't want to look at her, see the pity in her face. He couldn't hear her talking anymore, didn't want to listen to the voice in his head saying that Luna was going to be happier without him, without the shit he'd been dealing with all these years, the same shit that she'd been dragged into. He was so angry, so bitter…he interrupted her.

"Fuck this Luna, fuck this. I can't stand this anymore."

Luna stared at him, trying not to hear the words of anguish, anger that spewed out of him. Towards her, his father, all his emotions bottled up all these years finally coming out.

"Neville, I never said anything to…"

"Fuck this, fucking stupid…"

Neville couldn't stop the words from coming out, he had grabbed her shoulders, shaking her, shouting, his faces inches away from her. Everything inside him screamed walk away, leave now, take Hannah home, never come back to see Luna again. She had seen him at his most vulnerable, the night he went to the hospital, Christmas and right now. The sadness in her eyes stunned him, he didn't want that at all. He was a failure.

He half pulled her, half dragged her to the back of the garage, just off the garden pathway. He shoved her into the wall, banging her head, jolting her with a cry. Luna's scent engulfed him and he almost weeped, almost cried out loud that he loved her, please just say that you want me. Say that you love me. I need you.

Instead, Neville grasped her head between his hands and pressed his mouth over hers, kissing her hard, pushing his tongue inside, not giving her a chance to breathe, to get a word in edgewise, to say no. He watched her eyes widen, then felt her grasp his shirt, pulling him closer against her body. Neville forgot where he was for a moment, not caring if anyone saw them, heard them. Luna responded to his kisses, meeting his tongue, grasping his hair. He bit her lip, making her cry out, he wanted to hurt her, wanted her to feel the kind of pain he was in. He could feel her breasts pushed up against him, he ripped open her shirt and bra, taking them in his hands, rubbing the tips with his thumbs, feeling her nipples harden.

He pushed his thigh up between her legs, Luna lifting one leg up to balance against him and he lowered his mouth to her breast, making her moan, sigh. He swore he could feel her wetness. Every touch was fervent, hurried, like there wasn't a second to lose. He couldn't stop himself, wouldn't stop himself as he pushed his erection up against her, rubbing against her, watching her face. Luna tilted her head back, placing a hand to the front of his pants, feeling him. He stopped seeing anything beyond Luna in front of him, only felt her in his arms, her mouth on his chest, his shirt opened, soft kisses, her hands on his back, his waist, his hardness. He wanted her, didn't care anymore about his feelings, didn't care anymore about what was right and what was wrong, that she was with Harry and he with Hannah.

Neville undid the tie around her skirt, letting it fall to the ground. He placing his hand underneath her lace underpants, pulling them away, following her skirt. He could see her glistening hair, silky and he touched her, feeling her dampness. He groaned against his will and slipped a finger inside, watching her eyes flutter as he pushed upwards. Luna sighed his name, clenching around him. He placed his mouth on the side of her throat, sucking, branding her.

He lowered himself down, sinking to his knees, his own erection becoming strained, wanting to see Luna react to his being inside her. But first, he wanted to taste her, see if she was the same inside as outside. Neville looked up at her, his hand still on her, inside her, looking up at Luna's face, searching for an answer to his unsaid question. She looked down at him, her eyes heavy, not saying a word. She closed them as Neville pressed her open, burying his tongue inside her.

Time stood still. He didn't hear anything, other than the sound of his mouth against her folds, the little cries that Luna was giving out. He could taste her, slightly sweet, salty, could feel her texture. She was shaking, rocking, crying out and he held her open with one hand, not letting her move away, not letting her stop him, searching for her center, his other arm bracing her, as Luna started to buckle downward. She held him in place as she cried out, gasping, gripping his hair, shuddering with spasms as she came, his name coming out of her mouth between quick breaths.

At first Neville didn't hear the question. He looked up and saw Luna, her face flushed, hair tousled, her shirt open and breasts exposed, jutting out. He wanted to reach up and touch them, wanted to lower Luna down to him, feel her mouth on him. Wanted to do everything to her again and again.

Then the words made themselves clear to him and he turned.

"What the fuck are you doing Longbottom?"


	13. june

**thank you for all the reviews and alerts. I don't own any characters**

Summer

Neville stood in front of Luna's house. It was graduation day for her. He knew that from the letter that his mom had written to him. He himself hadn't heard from her in months. Not since he and Hannah went to Harry's house. Not since he saw Luna there. Not since Harry had caught him with his mouth on Luna, behind his garage.

"You fucking asshole, you piece of shit…"

It was always meant to end this way, he knew it. That's why Neville was able to accept the blow that Harry threw which landed on his jaw, staggering him, followed by a fist in his stomach. That Harry could throw a punch if he wanted to that was for sure. Neville threw himself into Harry, driving him back to the ground not because he didn't deserve what he got, but because he wanted to shield Luna, wanted to draw all of his anger onto him.

He remembered everyone from the party coming out to see what was going on. Ginny and Hermione were shocked, they moved Luna away from Neville, helping her to get her clothing back on. Hannah was screaming at her, crying, trying to strike her and being warded off by Ginny. Harry coming at him again, Seamus pulling him off. Dean moving Neville's arm away from Harry, trying to come between the two of them. Neville had shaken Dean's arm off, grabbed Hannah and left. Not looking back, not even checking if Luna was okay.

The drive back to the college was awful. Hannah was crying next to him, neither of them saying a word until they were almost at her apartment.

"How could you Neville? How could you do that."

"I'm sorry Hannah, I really am. We're really not that great together. I don't know, I was hoping that things would be different..." Neville couldn't finish his sentence because Hannah chose that moment to lean over to him and slap him in the face. Neville pulled over, stopping the car. Hannah slapped him again and Neville didn't do anything, didn't defend himself, just taking it. Knowing that he was in the wrong and that Hannah had every right to act this way towards him.

"You were never really into me, I know that. You were using me. You wanted that fucking bitch. She's nothing, looking at how she dresses, how she acts. She's a piece of trash..."

"Don't say that about Luna. You can say anything you want about me but not her. It's not her fault."

"Fuck you Neville! Fuck you, don't every talk to me again." Hannah got out of the car and threw her bag at the windshield, cracking it, onlookers staring at them. She was still screaming at him when he drove off.

The next few months on campus were not good. Hannah had talked to their friends about what had happened and he received the cold shoulder treatment from everyone. He was lucky it wasn't worse then that, that his reputation as a researcher still held up. In fact, he might have received a little more respect from his colleagues, students and lab mates because of what had happened. Not that it mattered at all to Neville.

Harry had also left him a giant fuck you message on his home and cell phones, mortifying his mother, who had called him almost immediately after he had left.

"Oh Neville, why did you do that to Luna." She whispered on the phone. Neville let her talk on about it for the next few weeks, not saying that Luna and he hadn't spoken since that night. Nor was he intending to either, deciding it was in Luna's best interest to be as far away from him as possible. He was a jerk, unable to tell her how he felt. Unable to contact her to make sure she was okay.

Ginny told Neville that Luna and Harry had a huge fight that night, right after Neville and Hannah had left.

"Neville, I can't believe what happened."

"I know Ginny, I don't know what got into me, I shouldn't have done that to Luna, to Harry."

"Harry called her a whore in front of everyone, saying that she was a liar and a cheat with "that loser Neville." Luna didn't say anything, she didn't blame you or defend herself. She just walked away from him, Harry yelling after her that they were over. That he didn't want anything more to do with her."

"Oh shit."

"Neville, I tried to talk to her since but she won't say anything. You know how she is, she just has that serene look on her face, like everything is all right. Her father apparently wanted to kill you!"

"It's all my fault Ginny, it really is..."

"Haven't you talked to her?" He couldn't answer.

Neville didn't want to know what Luna's father thought of him though he had a pretty good idea. He left it to Luna to explain, knowing that he was too afraid to face the truth. That Luna didn't need someone like himself. She needed someone who was emotionally available, strong for her, would protect her. Even to this day, he thought of that moment not in embarrassment but with a sense of pleasure, remembering how Luna had shuddered when he had finished, how he had felt after watching her come. He should feel guilty, upset but every day he took with him the memory of how she looked at him, against that wall.

So now he stood in front of her house, a gift in hand for her graduation. He wasn't sure what was the best way to give it to Luna, he had debated about sending it in the mail to her. But in the end, he had driven back, passing by the college with everyone there, going back to her house, leaving his gift for Luna on the porch. There wasn't any need to see her. She was probably walking to get her diploma right now. He would pack his things and leave, returning back to his school. He had opted to stay there to teach while getting his Ph.D next term. His own graduation had passed quietly, his mom and grandmother coming to see him. His father was getting better but it would have been too much of a strain for him to come out for the day. Hannah had ignored them all that day and Neville felt badly, but tried to pass it off as nothing.

He left the gift and strode back to his house, swiftly running up the stairs to his room. He started to pull out some clothes and books, placing them in a cardboard box. He avoided looking across into Luna's room, closing the curtain of his window, turning on the lamp to see instead.

He tossed out some old papers, going through the mail that his mom had left up there for him. There wasn't that much left of him in this house that belonged to him. The house had sold, there wasn't any choice in the matter. It was for the best. His parents would move into his grandmother's house. Fresh start.

He opened his desk drawer, clearing out the junk. He opened a large manilla envelope and paused. There were all the letters that Luna had written to him this past year. All the photos and clippings she had included. She had once said that she liked writing better then emailing or texting. She felt that the paper picked up her innermost thoughts, the things she wanted other people to hear the most. He picked one up, reading the first few lines, then another and another.

_Dear Neville:_

_Things have been very hectic here, my father has made editor-in-chief for the magazine, I'm so happy for him! How have you been? I miss seeing you on the roof, lying there next to the tree._

_Dear Neville:_

_I had a nice talk with your mom recently, she looks very well. We talked all about your latest accomplishments regarding your research, she seemed very pleased of course! I have done well in my own studies too, but frankly wish you were here so I can tell you about them._

_Dearest Neville:_

_I have enclosed a picture of us that my father had taken it. It turned out very well I think. _

Neville closed his eyes, realizing for the first time that all the letters she had written to him always talked about him. In the past, he usually skipped over all her letters because he was always afraid she would talk about how wonderful Harry was to her, afraid she would say how she really loved him. Instead every letter of hers ended in love to him.

_Love Luna_

_From your lovely Luna_

_Love always Luna_

He was so stupid. How could he be so stupid? She was always there for him, talking to him, visiting his father, talking to his mother. And he had accused her, accused her of telling Harry something people probably knew already,.

Neville was still staring at the letters in his hand when the door to his bedroom opened. There Luna stood, in her graduation gown, holding her diploma in one hand, his gift in the other.

Her presence seemed to fill his room with light. Her hair was pinned up, little tendrils dropping around her glowing face. She smiled tentatively at him, hesitant about standing there. She spoke to him for the first time in months.

"Are you leaving Neville?"

"Yes, I came to pack up a few things. I didn't want to bother anyone, my parents are out of town. My dad's feeling better, so a couple days at the lake will do them good."

"I'm glad, I saw him a few days ago. He actually said hello to me, asked how I was doing."

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Luna placed her diploma and the gift down on his bed, unzipped her gown, dropping it to his chair. It was like she stepped out of a cocoon. She had on a cream colored dress that seemed to change to pinkish in the light. She glowed, luminescent, blinding him. He had to blink twice. She picked up his present to her and held it out.

"Neville it's beautiful. Where did you ever find it?"

It was a gold locket, round with a pattern of small flowers and sun on one side, vines and a moon on the other.

"Antique shop, I liked the moon, you know. Like your name. You could put your graduation picture in it or something. Maybe your mom and your dad."

"Or this." Luna picked up the picture of her and him in the letter he had opened. It was the one taken at her house when he first kissed her, after dinner. Her father had framed them well, it showed the two of them in profile, Luna looking up at him, Neville with his hand touching her arm, looking down at her. Neville didn't say anything, just placed the picture gently down on his desk. Luna turned away , not looking at him. She sat down on his bed, holding out the locket.

"Please place it on for me." She bent her head down, waiting.

Neville stood there, hesitant. He took it, sitting down behind her, heady with her scent, fumbling with the clasp. It took three tries before he was able to get it secure. Luna kept her head down and he was staring at her neck, her delicate, beautiful neck, creamy with not one blemish. He sighed, placing his hands on her shoulders, smoothing down her dress. He could feel her tense up a little, and he closed his eyes.

He leaned forward and placed a kiss on the clasp, letting his mouth linger. He was such a fool.

Luna had closed her eyes as well, feeing Neville's lips on her skin, like a whisper.

She turned around and kissed him, hard. Neville pulled her up into his chest, lying back on the bed so she was on top, holding her in place. He unpinned her hair so it spilled out around him, never letting go of her. He kissed her fervently, pushing his tongue inside her, wanting her to know how much he wanted her. He unzipped her dress, pulling it down over her shoulders, exposing her bra, undoing it in one smooth movement and cupping her breasts, groaning with desire. I love you, he thought.

Luna whispered his name in his ear, running her hands downward, kissing his neck. Her mouth spoke of promises, of missing him. He placed a hand on her chest, feeling her smooth skin, glowing in the light. He moved his hands to her bottom, pushing upwards, squeezing. Luna moaned, Neville stopped and just watched her face, watched her open her eyes and look at him. He needed to tell her how he felt.

"Luna, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Don't Neville, don't say anything. I want to say something first."

"Luna…"

"Stop, stop."

Neville stopped kissing her, resigned to what Luna was going to say next. He knew that she was going to berate him, going to be angry at him for leaving her like that, to say that she had gotten back together with Harry or met someone else.

He knew that she was going to say that she was leaving him, that he wasn't enough for her. He understood why she was going to but wished that he were able to change things, face his father earlier, face Luna. Face his mistakes.

He stood back up, leaving Luna on the bed. He didn't want to see her when she told him she was leaving him.

Her next words astonished him.

.


	14. loving you

**Thank you all for the reviews and alerts. Neville and Luna deserve some happiness. This is a mature chapter and I don't own any characters.**

Loving you

"I love you. I have ever since we first met, the first time I saw you lying on the roof."

Neville was standing away from her, when Luna said the words. He turned around disbelieving, staring at her.

"What did you say?" Neville needed to hear the words again, hear Luna say them again.

"I love you Neville."

All this time, Luna loved him. He sat back down, weak all of the sudden, pulling her over in front of him, making sure that he could see her face so that he would know if he was dreaming or not. Maybe he was, maybe he was going to wake up right now, alone. He looked at her, blinked. She was still there, that same look on her face. One of love, shining through her eyes. For him.

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"Why didn't I say anything? Oh Neville, what was I supposed to think, you didn't exactly seem interested in me…"

"Not interested! Luna, I'm in love with you." Luna kept talking like he hadn't interrupted her.

"…introducing me to Harry, Ron, everyone in town, making sure that I would go out with some other guy. You basically told me that Harry was a great guy, that you weren't going to ask me out. You couldn't leave fast enough, not giving me your phone number or email, I had to get your address from your mother. Not saying you'd see me again or anything. You show up at Christmas, give me a gift…"

Her voice dropped down to a whisper, Neville had to pull her head closer to him to hear her words.

"…touch and kiss me like that, make me want you in your house, then leave in the middle of the night. I don't see you again for months and when you show up, it's with another woman, this Hannah. Whom you've been dating apparently, seriously enough to bring her home to meet your mom. You bring her to the bar, introduce her to everyone like you did at first with me. Only this time, there's no mistaking that she's your girlfriend."

Luna placed her hands on Neville's face and stared straight at him. He looked back at her, placing his own hands over hers. Her silvery eyes weren't dreamy for once, they were laser sharp, focused on his. He ducked his head in shame, remembering what he had said to her.

"You basically tell me to get lost at the bar then go over to Harry's place with Hannah, avoid me then take me to the back of the garage, and you…"

Neville pulled her closer to him, dropping his hands to lift her into his lap, cupping her bottom and kissed her hard, trying to make her stop saying how he had hurt her all these months. Luna tipped her head back as Neville placed his hands on her thighs, stroking her, pushing her dress up to place his hand on her underpants, feeling the wetness come through them. Luna whispered his name, Neville kissing her neck. She pulled herself away, pushing him back down onto the bed, standing up to face him.

"Let me finish Neville…you don't say anything to me, and I'm supposed to walk around thinking I'm yours, that you're in love with me. You clearly didn't want me."

"I didn't want you? What do you think I was doing to you? Luna…"

"I hated you for a while." Luna whispered in her dreamy voice, looking away from him. Neville pulled her face back to him, shocked. Luna hated him? She pulled away, not looking at him.

"Look at me." He said harshly. Neville was angry, angry at himself for making her feel this way, angry at the time they had lost, the time they were losing right now.

Luna still stared towards his window. Neville put his hand on her neck, forcing her to gaze back to him.

"Look at me. I love you, Luna."

"I really did hate you." Luna said quietly, like she didn't hear what he had just said. Neville dropped his hold on her, ashamed. Unsure again, her soft voice ringing in his ears, the words accusatory.

"That night in the club over Thanksgiving, I was so close to you and you told me to not touch you. Like the very thought of me was repellent. And in the hallway at the bar, when you grabbed me, you were so angry and I was so upset. I thought that you were in love with Hannah, that you didn't want me around, didn't want me holding you back. I hated you. I hated that you were there with her. The first time I met Hannah, I couldn't stand her. She looked like she belonged with you. You were holding her hand, you kissed her in front of everyone, she was laughing with Ginny, Hermione. Laughing at something you had said because you're so funny. That's what she said to me.' Oh, that Neville, he's so funny. ' I knew she was laughing at me but I didn't care, I was just so mad at you."

"You were never like that with me. I wanted to walk over to the both of you, push her away and scream why are you with her. I hated myself for always wanting to be near you, for opening myself for rejection."

Neville took Luna's hand, brought the palm up to his mouth, kissed it. Luna didn't pull away, just touched his chin, continued talking.

"And then you took me to the garage, the night of the party. I wanted you to tell me that I was the one. That you loved me, that what you were doing to me was because you loved me. Oh Neville, I wanted you so badly that night. I knew that Harry and Hannah might see us, I didn't care. I didn't care at all because the look on your face, that look you get when…" she trailed off as Neville gave her that look right then and there. Hungry. Needful. In love with her. Luna turned a little pink, a tickling feeling in her stomach. But she needed to finish, needed to tell him what had been on her mind all these months.

"And you left, left with Hannah. You left me, it was like you chose Hannah over me. You didn't call, didn't write, you didn't do anything. I broke up with Harry that night. I never wanted to be with him, never thought he would ever be anything more then a good friend and I'm sorry that I hurt him. He was so angry. But I never told him about your family Neville, I never did."

Neville pulled down Luna's dress, leaving her standing there in front of him in her bra and underpants. Lace and ribbons. Her pale skin was perfect, flawless, glowing. He pulled her to him by her lace panties, hooking a finger into the elastic, dipping down to touch her soft hair. Luna let him, loving him.

"I'm sorry, sorry…" he whispered, touching her, opening her legs. Luna sighed, arching her back. Neville kissed her neck, her masses of blonde hair, started to tell her what he felt.

"I love you Luna, I truly do. Since that first day you came over to introduce yourself to me, when you first shook my hand. I didn't know what to do, I had never felt that way before about anyone. I didn't know how to handle my feelings, it's been a long time since I opened myself to anyone, let myself get hurt…" he hesitated, Luna touching his jaw, running a finger on his lip. He kissed it, continued.

"I wanted to hurt you that night at the bar, I couldn't stand that you were there with Harry. That's why I grabbed you in the hallway. I was so angry Luna, so well, broken. I almost didn't go over to Harry's house, I couldn't be near you. I never wanted Hannah, I hurt her too. I was afraid Luna, afraid I would fall too deeply for you. I didn't want to know that you were with Harry all these months, happy with him. I never thought you'd be interested in me, never thought that you wanted me." Neville moved Luna to his bed, positioning her beneath him as he started to remove his shirt, his belt buckle. Luna watched him, helped him. She put a hand on his chest, tracing his scars with her fingers, making him shiver a little, leaning forward to kiss each and every scar softly. She moved her hand down to his navel, Neville groaning.

"I wanted you, loved you from the first night we met. When you were talking to me about being lonely. I couldn't imagine that you would feel that way about someone like me, you're so beautiful. Every man would want you, be with you."

"Did you think that's what I wanted, what I needed? I didn't want every man interested in me, I only wanted you. You're so special Neville. You were so sweet to me, talked to me, listened to every word I said. No one ever did that before, no one ever will. "

Neville kissed her, pressing his hand onto her thighs, feeling her soft smooth skin under him.

"I think I felt the most hurt when we stopped talking. When you started to avoid me." Luna whispered, as Neville kissed her stomach, moved upward, licking her skin.

"I couldn't talk to you about my family, about what my father was going through, what he put us through. I didn't want you to feel sorry for me, drag you into my family mess. That night of the storm though, Luna…"

He stopped, pulling her bra down from her breasts, relishing at the sight of her.

"When you asked me what I was afraid of, I wanted to say I was most afraid of you. Of being in love with you. I almost grabbed you right there, almost made love to you on the floor as your dad came into the house."

Luna laughed a little, holding his shoulders as he buried his face into her breasts, kissing them.

"I love you Neville."

"Say it again." He whispered urgently, desperately, cupping her, pushing up against her with his hand. "Say it again while I'm touching you."

"I love you Neville…" Luna gasped as his mouth closed over hers, his fingers stroking her folds, rubbing her fast. Luna gasped, moaned. He was feeling harder than he ever had before this moment.

"Don't ever stop talking to me."

"I won't sweetheart, I won't."

He pulled his boxers off, exposing himself to Luna. She watched him, a quick intake of breath. He stopped, waited. Desperate to feel her.

"Don't ever leave me like that."

"I won't ever leave you again. I love you Luna..."

Luna nodded, as Neville cradled her face, kissed her deeply as he pushed inside her, making Luna cry out. He felt her tightness, so wet, completely engulfing him. He held her, loving her, felt her meeting him stroke for stroke, watching her mouth open as he started to move upward, pushing hard. Luna clutched him, her legs tight around his waist, his hips and he shuddered, his heart about to burst, filled with her smile, her love.

"Don't you ever stop loving me Neville."

"I won't, not ever. I can't, you're a part of me. You're the only thing I live for."

Luna whimpered, tight, on the edge. She never thought she would be here with Neville, with him inside her, filling her up. She was so close, so close. She kissed his shoulder, feeling his muscles tensing, sweaty, slick. He shouted her name, spilling into her and she followed, crying out. Neville collapsed, still clutching her, holding tight. Luna didn't want him to finish, never wanting to let go. Neville kissed her neck, her face, her mouth, softly.

"I love you Luna." He whispered to her.

She smiled, knowing it was completely true.


	15. fall

Fall

One year later

Luna sat in front of the dressing table in her bedroom, getting ready for the wedding. She pinned her hair back, pulling a few tendrils to the front, humming under her breath. She strapped on her shoes, and stood in front of the mirror, making sure that everything was lined up right. She patted her locket, the one that Neville had given to her the previous year. She never took it off, keeping it close to her body at all times. In it, were pictures of herself and Neville, as small children. She liked the idea of them knowing each other when they were young, at least in spirit. She loved the feel of it against her heart, heavy and warm.

She was standing on the porch when Neville drove up, always there to greet him when he arrived home.

Neville came to the door. "You ready?"

"Yes, almost. Come in."

Neville stepped into the room, looking at his radiant wife. Luna was wearing cream colored lace, her hair pinned back neatly, her smile blinding him as always.

"You look very handsome." Luna said to Neville and he did. He was wearing a formal dark grey suit with a button down vest, white shirt and dark blue tie. He smelled wonderful, like cotton and fresh air. Luna smoothed down his front lapels, admiring the sprig of lily of the valley he had tucked there.

Neville kissed her, placing a hand on her bottom, squeezing her, subtly moving her to the sofa.

"We don't have time…"

"I don't care if we're late, sit here." Neville gestured to his lap. Luna sat down, straddling his hips with her legs. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him as Neville nuzzled her neck.

"Baby, come on, we're always late for everything and everyone knows why."

"Hmmm, I can't help it if my wife is so desirable that I can't keep my hands off of her."

Neville started to unzip her dress, admiring her shoulders. He exposed a thin bra strap which he slipped off, kissing her gently, cupping her breast. Luna started to move her head back, giving Neville access to her neck, gently pressing, starting to feel him through her dress.

"Neville…"

"Fine, then we might be leaving this wedding early just so you know. "

Luna knew that would be true, and she smiled a small smile to herself, realizing that she didn't have a problem with leaving early. It had happened before, at Ron and Hermione's wedding. They stood up as Ron and Hermione came into the reception hall, Luna clapping her hands with everyone had both seen Harry standing in the corner and Luna raised her hand to him. He waved back a little ignoring Neville. That was okay, it would just take time Luna figured. She was going to say something to Neville when all of the sudden he pulled her against him, rubbing himself into the small of her back. He thrust his jacket into her hands so that it covered her in front. Luna wasn't sure why until Neville reached over and cupped her, right there as the DJ was announcing the happy couple. Luna almost passed out from surprise and desire. He pushed his hand up into her while smiling at the bridesmaids and groomsmen coming down the hall, commenting to Dean how nice they all looked. Luna was sweating, she was so aroused. She leaned into him, feeling his fingers push the fabric of her dress, feeling herself getting wet. Neville took her hand and led her outside to the car, pulling her into the backseat and making love to her right there, Luna clutching at him as he came. They never made it back in and the next time Luna saw Hermione, she had to pretend that she was ill at that time to explain their leaving early.

Today though, it would not be a good idea to be late. Neville zipped up her dress, kissing the nape of her neck, going back outside to start up the car. His mother and father had already left along with her dad, about a half hour ago. Neville's father had been doing much better recently, to Neville's relief. He took the move to his grandmother's in stride, the sale of their chain finally removing a large weight off of him. He sat down and apologized to Neville not that long ago, saying that he would understand it Neville never forgave him. Neville just went over and hugged him. He wouldn't have been able to if it weren't for Luna, standing there beside him. His love, his heart.

He was waiting with the engine on when Luna ran out, suppressing the urge to skip the last few steps and hopped in, Neville squeezing her leg. He leaned in to kiss her, then turned off the engine.

"Neville!"

"Just ten minutes baby." Luna laughed as he pressed his mouth against hers, cutting off anything else she wanted to say. "I love you, just ten minutes."

Forty minutes later, Neville was driving like a madman through town, Luna fixing her hair in the seat.

"So, you're okay with this?"

"Neville, don't be silly. Of course I am."

"I'm surprised we got an invitation, that's all."

"I'm not, I've spoken to the two of them several times this past year."

"And, it's okay?"

"It's fine Neville. Really. There's nothing to worry about."

Luna had stayed with her father while Neville finished up his first year of teaching at the college. He knew that Hannah was finishing up her year and moving away, he wanted to make sure that there wasn't a problem. Neville and Hannah had at least been civil to each other the last few months, she had started dating a fellow student named Ernie. Neville wished her only the best, but he would be glad when she left before Luna moved in.

She was planning to come out with him after the fall term finished, already bombarding Neville with decorating ideas for their apartment, lamenting the fact that there wasn't a roof that they could climb onto at night. Neville just listened to her, happy that she was happy. Happy that she was his wife.

"Hmm, well if I notice anything strange, we're leaving."

Luna patted her husband on the arm as they walked up to the church, Neville unable to resist squeezing her bottom as they entered the doors.

They settled onto a pew not far from their parents, Luna smiling at Hermione, Dean, a couple of other people she had met the previous year. Neville's parents looked good, his father having come to terms with the selling of the stores. She saw Neville's mother settling her hand on his shoulder.

Neville looked around him, at the flowers, listening to the music. He always wondered if Luna missed the idea of having a formal wedding ceremony. It was too expensive and even though Luna's father could afford it, he didn't want to start out their new life with that kind of burden to him. It took a while for Mr. Lovegood to be okay with Neville, especially with what had happened at the garage. He wanted to know that Neville would always put Luna first and foremost . It took a lot of effort on Neville's part to convince him that he would. Luna just said to her father that she loved Neville, that she was going to marry him and that was that. They had a very small ceremony and dinner at a restaurant afterwards. He knew his parents understood that it was for the best. Luna's father was disappointed but came around when Luna explained to him that all Neville and she required was their presence. There wasn't even a honeymoon, since Neville was scheduled to teach the following day. Luna said she didn't mind.

Ginny spoke with Neville the day after they were married.

"So, you did it?"

"Yes, we were married yesterday."

"That's amazing, you didn't have a big wedding though?"

"No, not what we wanted. We will leave that to the rest of you." Neville smiled at Luna as she got up from beside him, naked. She stretched, making Neville want to put the phone down, move her back into bed.

"Where are you now?"

"Hotel in town, I have to go back to the college tomorrow."

"No honeymoon?"

"No, I don't need it. I just want to be with her." Luna smiled at him, leaning down to kiss him quickly.

"We'll see you at Hermione and Ron's wedding?"

"Yes Ginny, is everything okay with you?"

"Yes, I think so. Harry talked to me a lot about what had happened and I think that things will work out."

"I hope so." He hung up, pulling Luna back down on top of him, kissing her.

"Harry says hi."

Luna laughed, holding him. "Tell him hi back."

"I love you."

She sighed, that same sigh that captured his heart that first night, looked at him with her amazing eyes, the ones that saw through everything. Right to his essence.

"I love you too." Luna loved Neville so very much. Nothing more she ever needed in this life.

Neville watched the little flower girls walking down, scattering rose petals. The bridesmaids and ushers started to come down the aisle as well, dressed in pastel colors and formal wear. He glanced down at Luna beside him.

"Honey, you never wanted this? The big gown and reception? The honeymoon to someplace exotic?"

Luna smiled at him and rested her head against his arm, admiring the wedding band on her left hand. The small diamond ring he had placed there the day after she had come up to his bedroom last June winked at her.

"No Mr. Longbottom, I have never regretted a single moment with you since the day we met."

Neville hugged her to him, watching as Harry married Ginny, feeling like this moment surpassed that first one, the one he thought was the happiest of his life. The day he had met Luna when she moved in next door to him.

"No Mrs. Longbottom, it is I who will never regret a single moment with you."

**Thank you very much for reading this story. I am working on a fourth one but for now, bid you adieu. Enjoy your life and find your happiness. No regrets.**


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